Death, Destruction & Deliverance
by FeistyFeral
Summary: Reid & JJ are married and expecting their first child when something happens that changes the course of their lives forever. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-Death, Destruction & Deliverance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters. No profit is being made from this story (just check my bank account). First CM fic, please R&R!**

Spencer Reid walked briskly into the break room of the BAU to refill his empty mug of coffee before their afternoon briefing. He was in his own world and almost didn't notice JJ leaning against the counter. He stopped dead in his tracks due to the look on her face; she looked completely lost in thought as she absently rubbed the right side of her protruding belly, a lazy smile making its way across her beautiful lips.

"JJ?"

Snapping out of her daydream, JJ looked sheepishly at her husband of almost a year, "Hey Spence. I didn't hear you come in."

He smiled as he shoved the hair out of his eyes, "Well, you were lost inside that beautiful head of yours again. What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking that I can't wait to meet our baby. I'm tired of waiting."

"Are you feeling okay? Do you want to go to the doctor to make sure everything is fine?"

JJ smirked as she rolled her eyes, "No baby, everything is fine. I just want to meet this little one," she said pointing to her belly.

"Don't worry, there's less than three months to go and then you'll be wishing for a break from this little one," he stated with a smile as he covered a side of her stomach with one of his long hands.

"Never," she stated placing her hand over Spencer's, admiring the way his wedding band shone, declaring him hers for the rest of their lives.

Reid looked up after a long moment to see JJ staring at him with a predatory gleam in her eyes. Turning a bright shade of red he stated, "No way JJ! Not here. Not now. Not ever."

"What?" she asked innocently.

"I'd know that look anywhere. There is no way we're having sex in the break room."

"Who said anything about the break room? I have a really comfortable couch in my office…" she let the sentence trail suggestively to match her seductive tone

"Nope. Not in a million years. Hotch would kill me."

"How would Hotch ever know?"

"He would know before I even looked at him! That man's eyes can see into you soul!" he squeaked.

"Special Agent Reid," she whispered as she snaked her arms around his neck, "Are you really going to say no to me?" She put on her best pouting face and kissed him, painfully slow at first, then increasing in urgency as Spencer responded with fervor.

Derek Morgan had been trying to find JJ to ask her what time the conference would start when he walked into the break room and stopped short. Reid and JJ were making out like a couple of teenagers, so he stood there watching. If they were going to put on a show in the break room, then they should know that they were going to have an audience. He took out his phone and started making a video. _This should be good! Now Reid will have to do some of my paperwork if he wants me to keep this little beauty to myself!_ After a minute, he glanced up just in time to see Hotch stalk out of his office and make a bee line to the break room; coffee mug in hand. Morgan cleared his throat, loudly saying, "Hi Hotch," as he blocked the doorway with his tall figure.

JJ and Reid jumped apart from each other as if they had received an electric jolt. JJ quickly set to work re-buttoning her blouse as Reid furiously tried to control the embarrassing shade of crimson that he was undoubtedly turning.

Hotch's eyebrows furrowed together, "Hi Morgan."

Morgan glanced back to ensure that JJ and Reid were decent , then he turned and entered the room and began filling his mug with coffee, while a curious Hotch watched as a cherry faced Reid brushed passed him and out into the bullpen followed closely by a waddling JJ.

"What was that about?"

"What? Can't a guy just say hello to his boss without arousing suspicion?" asked Morgan as he left the room. Hotch wasn't fooled, he would have to talk to those two about keeping their personal relationship private. He smiled as his thoughts drifted back to what Hailey had been like when they were expecting Jack; to the things they had done and the places they had done them.

Shortly after the incident in the break room, JJ gathered the team in the conference room.

"Let's get started," stated Hotch in his usual voice devoid of emotion.

JJ stood from her seat at Reid's side, "I have a friend in the Boston PD and he says that they've had four women of power murdered recently. The first murder took place two months ago, the second a month ago, the third a week ago and the fourth just two days ago," JJ explained to the team.

"Wow. He's devolving rapidly," observed Morgan.

"He apparently kidnaps the victims while they're on their way home from work, keeps them for 24 hours while he rapes and tortures them and then he kills them by puncturing an artery in their necks. They bleed to death over hours, sometimes even a day," JJ gave them the details as she handed out photos and various reports. "They're found in buildings that are under construction, where they are discovered no later than two days after death."

"That's pretty presumptuous considering that it can take up to a day for the victims to die. Couldn't the victims be found before they bleed to death?" asked Emily.

"Normally yes, but the first three murders took place on a Friday, the fourth murder took place on a Wednesday."

"Okay," opened Gideon as he spoke up for the first time since the meeting had started. "So from what we've seen, I'd say he's a caucasian male, mid twenties to late thirties. He's controlled in the manner of which he kills his victims although that control seems to be slipping. He blends into his surroundings since there's no mention of anyone seeing this unsub come or go from the crime scenes. That means that he probably looks like he's a construction worker or someone that belongs there."

"The unsub also left notes on the scene, drawn onto the floor with the blood of his victims. The messages are in French," JJ continued as she passed around pictures of the notes that were left at the scene.

Emily looked at the pictures and spoke for those on the team who didn't read or speak French, "'La gloire est au Père, et au Fils, et à l'Esprit Saint. Comme il au depart,'" the team followed along from photo to photo. They glanced up as Emily continued on in French, "'est maintenant, et jamais sera, le monde sans la fin. Amen.'"

"I gather from the 'Amen' that this is a prayer?" asked Morgan.

"It's the Glory Be." Everyone looked at Reid, who had been uncharacteristically silent throughout the process of putting together a rough profile. He was white as a sheet and his hands trembled slightly. The same thought ran through everyone's minds: _Tobias._ He continued, "It means, 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.' At least that's the rough translation of the prayer although it sounds like this person doesn't speak French as a first or second language. It sounds like it was translated online or through a dictionary. Since the unsub hasn't completed it, he won't stop until he's killed at least four more people," he calculated.

"Jason, I want you and Morgan at the crime scenes, Prentiss and I will talk to construction workers and the families of these women. Reid, I want you to do victimology and see if there's any connections between these four women. Then I want you to go through the evidence and see if you can find anything that the police may have missed, especially those notes; analyze the handwriting and tell me what you find. JJ, I want you to cover the press conference that we'll have as soon as we put together a profile. Wheels up in 30 minutes," Hotch declared as he gathered his files and left the room.

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Once in Boston, the team made quick work of putting together a working profile for the local law enforcement officers. JJ conducted a press conference that had yielded many tips, most of them useless, but thanks to Garcia the team was narrowing down suspects.

"Okay everyone, let's head back to the hotel. It's been a long two days and we need our rest," announced Hotch.

Gideon, who was sitting in a chair pinching the bridge of his nose, collected his files and headed out the door with Hotch as they discussed something that was undoubtedly case related.

"Anyone want to go out for a drink?" inquired Morgan.

"I'm in," said Emily.

JJ groaned, "What I wouldn't do for a beer right about now."

"I'll buy you a Shirley Temple," Morgan offered with a wink.

"Shut up, Morgan!" JJ threw back with a glare.

"Ouch! This whole pregnancy thing has your moods swinging faster than I can keep track of. First I run into you and Reid making out like the world is coming to an end, then you're all business during the case and now you're snapping at me."

"Whoa! Wait a minute!" Emily exclaimed, holding both her hands up in the air while turning an accusing glare towards JJ and Reid, "You two were making out in the break room?!"

Reid flushed a shade of red so deep he almost looked purple while JJ shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Oh yeah, they were getting ready to go at the main event and would have been caught by Hotch, if I hadn't came into the room first and ran interference. Thankfully, I have a little something called a video phone," he said while holding up the phone, grinning from ear to ear as he started playing the video for all to see.

Reid bolted from his seat and lunged at Morgan who tossed the phone to Emily, when Reid turned to Emily, she was watching with her moth hanging open, "Well, Dr. Reid, I'm certainly surprised! Who knew you had moves like _that?!_ Wow, JJ, you really are a lucky woman!"

Reid squeaked as he turned to Emily and stuttered, "G-give that t-to m-me!"

"Hmm…" Emily appeared to think about the request, never taking her eyes off the screen, "Nope!"

Morgan laughed as Reid dove for Emily, who in turn threw the phone back to its original owner.

JJ lounged in her chair, watching the exchange between her husband and the other two agents. She sat up and fixed Morgan and Emily with one of her best don't-mess-with-the-pregnant-lady looks. "If you don't hand that phone over to me right now, you will have to conduct _all_ of the press conferences until do I get that video in my hands."

"You can't do that, Hotch won't allow it," Morgan beamed, thinking he had won.

"I'll just tell Hotch that I'm not feeling well, due to being pregnant and all," she stated in a deadly calm voice while gesturing to her ever expanding belly. "Then I'll suggest that I might need some time off. God knows that I need to put the finishing touches on the nursery," she added with a sickly sweet smile.

Morgan's smile died on his face. He knew the amount of work that JJ put into her press conferences, and without her knowledge, experience and contacts he would be left with the worst press conference anyone had ever seen. Not a great way to stay in Hotch's good books. He groaned painfully as he deleted the video from his phone. "You drive a very hard bargain, Mrs. Reid." He moved to leave the room, turned and said, "JJ? You're pretty damn scary when you talk like that!" He left the room with Emily chattering excitedly about the video.

"Oh, and Morgan?"

He stuck his head back into the room, "Yeah?"

"If either of you so much as mentions that video or its contents to anyone, and I mean _anyone_, I'll take a leave of absence from work so fast it'll make your head spin."

Morgan stood there, looking dazed, then turned and left the room.

When JJ looked at her husband he had an awestruck look on his face, "Wow babe, that was…" he swallowed, "So sexy! What do you say we head back to the hotel and you can show me just how dominant you can be?"

"Oh I'll show you dominant!" she declared as she struggled to her feet and grabbed her husband's tie and practically dragged him from the room.

**Please take the time to R&R!! I know this first chapter was fairly boring, but the next one will be action packed! Let me know what you think! D**

**FeistyFeral**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-Sleep & Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters…much to my shock and sadness.

A couple hours later, both Reid's lay on the bed totally spent. JJ nestled her head in the spot between his head and his shoulder, a place that seemed to be made just for her. She watched his chest rise and fall in rhythm to his breathing while becoming totally hypnotized by the movement. She felt herself drifting off into a peaceful slumber.

A little while later, JJ suddenly woke from her sleep, confused. Her eyes snapped open and she listened to the noises around her. Spencer was sleeping soundly at her side, the room was silent, but what had woken her up? She turned over and reached for her gun on the table beside the bed. Her question was answered moments later as a kick from within made itself known, again. This baby was up and kicking at all hours of the night! How was she ever supposed to get any rest if she had to work during the day and feel the baby kicking all night long? This was the fourth night in a row that her sleep had been interrupted to the point that she couldn't go back to sleep.

She groaned as she rolled off Spencer and looked at him. For a moment she felt a flash of anger because he slept so soundly.

JJ reached up and brushed a few strands of hair from his forehead. His hair always fell into his eyes and she loved it. He thought it was annoying; she could see it in the way he shoved it out of his face when he was working, but she found it endearing.

She tried to get out of the bed without disturbing her sleeping husband, but it was hard when you felt like a beached whale.

"JJ?" a sleep filled voice grumbled from the bed.

"Go back to sleep, Spence."

"What's going on? Did we get a call? I didn't hear my phone," he said as he fumbled for his phone on the nightstand.

"No, we didn't get a call. I just can't sleep. _Your_ baby's kicking."

"Again?"

She laughed, "yes, again. He or she really is _your_ child, it's completely nocturnal."

"Why did you say 'my child'? It's ours," Spencer pointed out.

"Well, I like to think of it this way: when the baby is behaving itself, it's ours, but when he or she is acting up, it's your child." She swung an accusatory look at her husband.

Spencer smiled sleepily as he roughly rubbed his hands over his face. "Come back to bed. We can just lay here for a while until he or she calms down."

JJ climbed back onto the bed and lay on her back while Spencer rubbed her belly. He pulled her shirt up to expose her expanding stomach, "now listen here," he spoke authoritatively to her abdomen, "this is Daddy speaking; you need to calm down so that Mama and I can get some sleep!" He smiled at her soft laughter, "What?"

"Is that a scientifically proven method to get a fetus to stop kicking and go to sleep?"

"No, but scientists have concluded that, if spoken to on a regular basis, a fetus can recognize it's mother and father's voices, which may have a calming effect, in fact—" He gazed up at JJ to find that she was sleeping peacefully. _Now for the real talk._ "Hello little one," Spencer whispered into JJ's stomach, "I'm serious now, you need to let Mama get some sleep tonight and for the next little while. She needs to keep her strength up, and not sleeping won't help anyone because if she gets sick you're going to get sick. It happens because you're connected through this thing called an umbilical cord. Its purpose is to deliver you with blood and nutrients so that you can grow strong enough to be born. That's what we all want; for you to be healthy when you come out there."

JJ smiled to herself as she woke and listened to her husband try to negotiate their baby into not kicking its mother. He was talking to it with reason and logic, not unlike how he would talk an unsub down from a roof. _If only Morgan could see this!_ she thought. The scientific Dr. Reid, who was logical almost to a fault, was trying to talk their baby into submission.

She reached down and ran her hand through his hair, to which he started and looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She was sure his face was turning red, due to the fact that his face seemed to radiate heat. "You need to get some rest too."

"True, but it's not fair that I get to sleep while you're up at all hours of the night."

"I know, I feel the same way," a small smile spread across JJ's face, "but that's the way it is. Go back to bed so you can help catch this unsub, that way we'll be able to sleep in our own bed. I always manage to get at least a few hours rest at home."

"Baby, I just feel so helpless." Reid hung his head, "if I could carry our child, I would. You know that right?"

JJ giggled as she got a mental picture of the tall, lanky Dr. Reid waddling through the bullpen, "I know, but what would Morgan say?" They both laughed at this thought as Reid settled onto his back and JJ curled up against his side with her head on his chest.

She was lulled to sleep by the steady and reassuring sound of her husband's heart. Reid, however, was wide awake.

'_Your baby'_ he smiled. _Yes, it really is my child. A perfect mix of JJ and I. I just hope that he or she learns more from their mother than it does from me. I'm so awkward and bumbling while she's social and graceful._

_I still can't believe that I'm here with JJ sleeping next to me. _Reid glanced down and admired the way the moonlight seemed to make her engagement and wedding rings glitter. _If someone had said to me two years ago that I would end up marrying JJ and they we would be having a child together, I would have thought they were crazy._

_Poor JJ, this pregnancy has been rough on her. First the morning sickness that seemed to last all day, every day for three months and then she started spotting. That was one of the scariest times of my life._

Flashback

JJ had been in a blissfully deep sleep when she woke up to a pain in her belly. She froze and didn't move an inch while she waited to see if it was just gas again. When it happened again, she got up and went to the washroom to relieve her bladder, that's when she saw the blood. _Oh God! This can't be happening! Oh no, not this! Anything but this! Please, no! _She stumbled back into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed, feeling her mind shutting down. She reached out and shook her husband, who started awake.

"JJ? Baby, what time is it?"

"S-Sp-Spencer. The baby…blood…st-stomach hurts…" was all she managed to gasp out.

Reid jumped out of the bed and grabbed his pants from the back of the chair in the corner of the room. "Baby, talk to me, what happened?" No response. "JJ, talk to me! Tell me what's going on!" Still nothing. Reid ran possibilities of what could be happening in his mind, but he always came to the same conclusion: JJ was having a miscarriage.

"JJ?" She still wasn't answering him, she was crumpled on the bed, as if lying down was too much effort for her body at that moment. "Jennifer!" he all but screamed. _This isn't good. She's going into shock. _"Jen," he whispered, "look at me."

Through the crashing in her head she managed to hear her husband's heart breaking low voice. She moved only her eyes; it felt like all the life had been drained from her body. She was shocked back into reality by the pure, unadulterated terror in Reid's eyes as he climbed back onto their bed and placed his face close to hers. She saw the tears threatening to overtake him and his brave effort to blink them away for her sake.

"Jen, I need you to talk to me, please. I need to know what you're feeling," he begged.

She opened her mouth and moved her lips, but no sound came out. She closed her eyes and tried to force the words out. "Cr-cramps," she hiccupped, "b-blood. Oh God! Help me!" she sobbed.

_She's in no condition to get dressed. The average response time for an ambulance in our area would be 15 minutes at this hour. We don't have that kind of time. I have to get her to the hospital now!_ "Okay JJ, I'm just going to get my shoes and then I'm going to take you to the hospital. Everything's going to be okay." He looked at his wife. She was usually so vivacious and full of life, but now she just looked broken.

Reid bolted from the room, put on his shoes then returned to see that JJ was just lying there, staring into space. He picked her up as gently as possible and cradled her to his chest as he carried her swiftly out of the car and buckled her into the seat, all the while whispering sweet nothings to her.

He got her to the hospital after what seemed like an endless drive and they rushed her into a room to start an ultrasound. It was the worst three minutes of his life. When their OBGYN, Dr. Charlotte Michaels, squirted the icy gel onto JJ stomach she didn't even flinch, which only made his concern grow.

"Let's see what's going on here," stated Dr. Michaels as she placed the wand onto JJ's abdomen. A quiet whooshing sound was heard in the room and Dr. Michaels started intently at the screen. After a few tense moments she turned to Reid and smiled. "The baby is fine. It's right there," she said while pointing on the screen. "You can see the heartbeat. This is normal. Some women have spotting during the early stages of pregnancy. However, I want Jen to stay off her feet for the next week, just to be safe."

Reid let out the breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He turned to JJ who was still lying there staring into the air, "did you hear that Jen? The baby is okay! It's fine." There was no response from Jennifer and Reid became increasingly concerned. "Dr. Michaels? Why is she still not saying anything? Is she okay?" He looked up from his wife to see Dr. Michaels taking JJ's pulse and checking her pupils.

"Hmm? Oh yes, she will be fine." She leaned closer to JJ and softly said, "Jennifer? Jennifer, it's Charlotte. I need you to talk to me please." There was still no response from JJ. "Jennifer Jereau-Reid! I've known you since we were in college, you look at me now or so help me God, I will tell Spencer all about that Halloween party we went to when you drank too much and what you went dressed as!" Nothing.

"Charlotte?"

"Yes Spencer?"

"Last time we were here, you let us listen to the baby's heart beating. Could we listen to it again?"

Dr. Michaels smiled, "good thinking." She put the ultrasound wand against JJ's stomach as she flipped a switch on the machine. Soon a quick pulsing sound filled the room and Reid smiled. This made it so much more concrete that their baby was still living inside it's mother. Reid looked at JJ and found her trying to blink back tears.

"Is that…?" she weakly whispered.

"Yeah, that's the baby; alive and well."

"Oh Spence! I'm so sorry if I scared you! I just felt the cramps and saw the blood and I-I just shut down. I couldn't put thoughts together, much less form sentences. What happened?"

"Welcome back!" greeted Dr. Michaels.

"Char? What are you doing here?"

"I'm working in the ER this week, but don't worry, the baby is totally fine. You were spotting a little bit and I'm sure that you understand the implications of that, but trust me, the baby is perfect from what I can see. I do, however, want you to stay off your feet for the next week and to take it easy. No more running out into the field with that stud of a husband here." Reid turned scarlet. "You're going to have a baby in a little while. You don't need to add anymore stres. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," JJ looked sheepishly at her hands.

"Good!" she declared with a quick grin as she cleaned the gel off JJ's abdomen. "Now I have to get back to work, but wait in bed for a nurse to come with a wheelchair. I'm serious about you staying off your feet."

"Yes Mom," JJ sighed dramatically while rolling her eyes.

End Flashback

That had been one of the scariest days of Reid's life. He thought that they'd lost the baby and then he really thought he was losing JJ. I would rather stare down the worst unsub known to mankind than to have anything happen to JJ or our baby. _That's why you'll never let anything happen to them. JJ hasn't been in the field in over two months and she hasn't complained about it once. _Reid's eyes were growing heavy, but just before he drifted off to sleep, he thought about how much the baby could look like JJ and drifted off into a serene dreamscape with a smile on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I still own nothing, but I think I've been a good girl this year, so maybe for Christmas…**_

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_**Thanks to everyone for the reviews and alerts!! It really makes me want to keep writing (which is a feat in and of itself!)**_

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The next day the team was gathering outside a building currently under construction. The unsub, Timothy Detler, was inside with a hostage claiming that he was doing God's work by killing these prominent women that he had seen on TV. As the team was putting together a plan to get the hostage out, JJ looked at Reid. He had dark circles under his eyes and while everyone was getting their game faces on, he was pacing, which could only mean that he was restless. JJ wasn't the only one to observe Reid's odd behaviour.

"Reid?" Gideon called the younger agent's name as he reached out and stopped his nervous movements with a hand to his chest.

"What? Oh, Gideon. Sorry. I'm listening to the plan. It sounds like it has the best probability to work, it's just that…"

"What is it?"

Reid looked up uncertainly, "Timothy Detler doesn't seem like he'd be able to pull this off. These killings took time and patience. They're meticulous. He's not. It doesn't seem logical."

"Reid," Morgan said, getting the team's attention. "Detler's devolving. We know that. It's just happened faster than most. A lot faster, I'll give you that, but still he's the right guy; he knows too much about these crimes, details that JJ didn't release in any of her press conferences. He's our guy." The rest of the team murmured their agreement.

"Okay, but this still doesn't feel right. It feels like we're missing a piece of the puzzle; an important one."

"So noted," stated Hotch in his usual detached manner, "but the longer we wait out here, the longer Detler has to get nervous and kill his hostage. Let's get our vests on and make our move. JJ, I want you to keep the press away from the scene and keep an eye open from the surveillance van. Let's move everyone!"

The team made quick work of getting their vests on and checking their weapons. JJ made her way over to her husband, "Spence?"

He looked up to see the calm exterior that she displayed at scenes and in front of others, but in her eyes, Reid could see the concern she had for him, "I'll be careful," he confirmed before the words left her mouth and went back to checking his vest.

She smiled and said, "Baby?"

Reid looked up at her. JJ's voice had changed and there were tears in her eyes. "What's the matter?"

"I want you to be really careful. I need you and so does our little one," she whispered as she took his hand and placed it on her belly. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Are you okay?"

She sniffled and laughed, "yeah, it's just these hormones spinning out of control again. I love you."

"I love you too. And be careful out here. Stay in the surveillance van."

JJ snorted softly, "Be careful of what? Getting a sunburn?"

"There she is! That's the smart ass I married," Reid laughed and kissed her quickly before jogging off to meet up with Morgan who was watching the exchange. JJ waved to him and he gave her one of his signature smirks and a wink. The team gathered and moved to enter the building

JJ turned when the team disappeared into the structure and looked for the surveillance van. _Okay, I must really be losing it because I have no idea where the van is!_

"Excuse me?" JJ stopped a tech coming out of a van with a box.

His eyes shifted to her growing belly and a strange look crossed his face before it was replaced with a friendly, albeit fake, expression, "yes Ma'am?"

"Could you please tell me where the surveillance van is?"

"It's right here," he pointed to the vehicle he had just exited. "But are you sure that a woman in your…condition should be out here?"

JJ smiled, "don't worry, my husband is in that building and I am a Federal Agent. I think I can handle sitting in an air conditioned van for a little while." She looked down into the box. _The guy's probably in a bad mood because he broke his watch. Why would he leave it in the box with all these wire cutters and tape?_ _Some techs are just strange!_

The man's eyes hardened and he interrupted her thoughts by saying, "suit yourself," and stalked off.

_Tech people. Most of them are just weird. Thankfully, we have Garcia and she's normal—as normal as people in our profession get._ She walked up to the van, knocked and when no one answered her knock she began to maneuver herself up into the vehicle. _I feel like a whale! I hate having a different centre of gravity! It takes a lot of getting used to._ She sighed,_ Get over it girl!_

JJ was watching the discussion between Reid and the unsub when another tech entered the cool interior of the van. She decided to get Garcia on the phone to discuss the baby shower plans while keeping an eye on her husband.

"Goddess of all knowledge, plead your case!" greeted Garcia.

"Well someone's in a happy mood! What's going on?"

"The case is almost over and that means that I'll be able to get my sugar daddy to come home."

"You're hopeless! Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

"I'm not going to tell him how I feel because he knows how I feel. _Everyone_ knows how I feel. He just doesn't seem to be interested."

"Oh no, he's interested. I've seen the way he looks at you, but I think you may have to make the first move."

"Uh uh! No way, Jose! Not in a million years!"

"Maybe I'll just have to ask him myself, they're coming out of the building now," JJ grinned mischievously.

"Jennifer Reid, if you so much as breathe a word of this to Derrick Morgan, you will have lace and frills for your baby shower!" Garcia threatened.

"You wouldn't dare!" JJ gasped.

"Oh yes, I would!"

"Fine! Have it your way! I have to go. I'm getting another call on my other line. It's Spence."

"You two are utterly hopeless. Goodbye."

"'Bye!" JJ switched over to her other line and said, "How did it go?"

"It was fine baby. He thought he could quote the Bible better than I could." They both laughed at the thought of someone trying to outsmart Reid. The tech in the van cleared his throat crossly and JJ covered the phone with her hand, "yes?"

"Ma'am, did you touch anything when you got in here?"

She gave him a dubious look. "No, why?"

"This panel was replaced backwards."

JJ got to her feet and leaned over the computer desk to examine the panel, "maybe it was always like that."

"No. This is my surveillance van and I make sure everything is in its exact place. Everyone knows not to mess with my stuff," the tech huffed.

"Oh! It was probably that other tech. He was coming out of here—"

"Wait! What tech? No one else should have been in here! My partner John went home sick two hours ago and I only left when I went to take a leak."

"_Jen? Jen, are you there? Hello?_" came a muffled voice from her phone.

"Spence? I think we may have had a security breach. I ran into a tech on my way into the van, but the guy I'm with now says that no one else should have been in here. A panel was tampered with."

The tech removed the panel and all the pieces snapped together in JJ's brain as soon as she saw the device behind the panal. Her meeting with the supposed tech flashed in her mind. _The strange look on that man's face, "suit yourself", the watch in the box, the wire cutters, the tape. The bomb he had planted._ She felt faint and put one hand down on the desk to support herself. Everything was moving in slow motion. She looked out the door leading to the van and saw Spencer walking towards her with his eyebrows furrowed. The tech was screaming at her, but she couldn't hear his words. _I need to get out. It's a bomb. Run! Move it, Jen! Get going!_ But her arms and legs felt like they'd been pumped full of lead and she couldn't get her body to respond to her brain's commands. She was shoved hard by something and felt her feet go out from under her. _The baby!_ JJ tried to curl into a ball to protect her stomach when there was a brilliant flash of light and she felt like her body was on fire.

Spencer Reid was walking towards the surveillance van while talking on his wife on the phone. One minute they were laughing and the next, there was all this shouting. He heard the word 'bomb' and JJ was flung from the van, but before she could hit the ground an explosion erupted and he was thrown to the ground himself. Reid slammed into the ground with a sickening thud. He was scrambling to his feet before he could think, "JJ?!" he screamed.

_**I know! I'm a bad author! I'm writing a cliffhanger and now I won't be able to write again until after New Year's, but I got so many nice reviews that I figured I'd post a little chapter and hope you all liked it!**_

_**I'm off to catch a bus home, so enjoy yourselves and have a safe and happy holiday!**_

_**Merry Christmas!!**_

_**FeistyFeral**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: Apparently I wasn't a good girl this year because I still don't own Criminal Minds or its characters.**

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**Hi everyone, I'm back!! I just wanted to say thank you so much for patiently waiting for me to post this chapter and for the phenomenal reviews! You're all awesome! Thanks for all the amazing reviews (and yes, that includes the angry ones), they made me so happy! I'm glad you all like this story so much!!**

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Spencer Reid was walking towards the surveillance van while talking on his wife on the phone. One minute they were laughing and the next, there was all this shouting. He heard the word 'bomb' and JJ was flung from the van, but before she could hit the ground an explosion erupted and he was thrown to the ground himself. Reid slammed into the ground with a sickening thud. He was scrambling to his feet before he could think, "JJ?!" he screamed.

The explosion had knocked everyone off their feet and onto the floor. No one knew what had happed as they drew their weapons and started moving towards the site of the explosion. That's when they all heard Reid suddenly screaming his wife's name.

By the time the team had gotten to the blast site Reid ran past them and dropped to his knees, skidding to a stop at his wife's side.

JJ had landed and was laying facedown on the ground. The back of her clothes were ripped and burnt from the explosion and falling debris. She was smoldering and her left leg was twisted at an unnatural angle. Her hair covered her face, and instead of its normal golden colour, it was bright red, but what shocked the team into complete stillness was the growing pool of blood between her legs.

Hotch was the first to snap out of the trance and started issuing orders, raising his voice to be heard over the chaos that seemed to be spreading while dialing his phone, "Morgan and Prentiss secure the scene, Gideon, don't let Reid touch JJ, we don't know what condition she's in and we don't want to make things any worse than they already are. I'm calling 9-1-1 and will apprise them of the situation." No one moved; their eyes were all glued to Reid who was hovering over his wife trying to decide what to do to help. "GO!" Hotch bellowed as he spoke curtly into his phone and checked the computer tech laying ten feet away from JJ. He was dead.

Gideon went over to Reid and tried to pull him off his wife, but he was thrown back which surprised him; he didn't think Reid was that strong. "Reid, I need you to listen to me. You can't touch her. You might make things worse. You need to—" his logical reasoning was cut short by the blow Reid's fist delivered to his jaw. Gideon saw an explosion of colours and reeled backwards, landing on his back.

Morgan heard the exchange and felt the punch that landed Gideon on the ground. "Reid!" he yelled as he raced towards his teammates. Gideon was trying to push himself off the ground, but his head had burst into a painful headache that kept him from moving too quickly.

_Check for a pulse! Just check for a pulse! _Reid's thoughts urged him."No JJ, no Baby! Come on, make a sound. Anything! Yell at me! Be angry! Hit me, just do something!" He stretched out a quaking hand tentatively when he was yanked back and engulfed in a bear hug from behind with strong arms. "What the hell are you doing?! Let go of me! That's my wife for God's sake!! LET GO!!! I NEED TO HELP HER! SHE NEEDS MY HELP!" Reid screamed.

"Reid, listen to me. It's Morgan, can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you!" he snarled.

"Good. That's good, my man. Now I want you to listen to me very carefully. You can't touch her. We don't know how she is; you might hurt her more than you may help her."

"NO!" Reid shrieked. "That's my wife! I…I d-don't even k-kn-know if she's alive!"

"I know! I know…" Morgan's heart shattered for two of his closest friends. The iron grip on his emotions failed and tears started pouring down his face, but he didn't let go of Reid who was fighting to get away like a feral animal. "Hotch called 9-1-1 and help is on the way!" As if on cue, sirens began to wail in the distance.

"No! No you don't know! She's everything to me! She's my world! If she dies, I don't want to live! Help won't get here in time! I'm a doctor for Christ's sake! Let me go to her!" he howled.

"You're not a medical doctor. Reid, listen to me, you need to—"

"She's alive. I have a pulse, it's weak, but it's there," Gideon interrupted, gently removing his blood stained fingers from JJ's neck.

"Did you hear that buddy? She's alive! Now you have to calm down!" commanded Morgan.

Reid suddenly went limp in Morgan's arms, "Just let me go to her. Please Morgan? She has to know that I'm here for her," he begged.

Morgan glanced at Gideon who nodded his head and Reid was released from his arms.

Reid staggered over to his wife and collapsed onto the floor beside her. He leaned over and hoarsely whispered in her ear, "JJ? It's me. It's Spence. I need you to hold on! I need you to fight! The ambulance is almost here! Fight for me baby! Fight for us!"

While Reid was softly speaking to JJ, the rest of the team gathered around them to form a protective circle.

The ambulance came to a screeching stop and two paramedics jumped out and ran towards the fallen people. The first paramedic checked for a pulse on the tech from the van, then shook his head sadly. Orders were yelled in rapid succession as Reid tried to remain at his wife's side. Gideon gently touched Reid's shoulder and said, "Spencer, you have to move back now. They need to help JJ. You're just getting in the way. They need their space."

Reid stood on shaky feet and stumbled a few steps back. Gideon approached Reid as if he were an injured animal and put an arm around the shoulders of the man he had come to think of as his son. Reid turned into Gideon's embrace and sobbed while the older agent held him close to lend whatever comfort he could to the poor man.

The rest of the team looked on feeling completely useless since there was nothing they could do. They watched as the paramedics placed a collar around her neck to stabilize it and prevent any further injury.

"I need someone to help me to roll her onto her side to get a backboard under her," declared one of the paramedics.

Morgan jumped forward feeling like he could finally be of some use to JJ and Reid, "I'll help!" Together, the three men rolled JJ onto her right side and lay her on her back on the backboard whereupon the second paramedic ripped open JJ's maternity blouse and attached a heart monitor to her chest .

Morgan moved away to sit on the floor and covered his face with his hands, trying to suppress his own sobs. He felt someone sit beside him and Emily wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned her head on one of his broad shoulders. She whispered, "It's okay Morgan. You did the right thing." He looked up to see that Emily also had tears running down her face, so he reached up and brushed one of them away with his thumb.

Suddenly, the paramedics yelling became more urgent and frenzied as a continuous tone was emitted from the heart monitor. "She's crashing! Get the defibrillator!" commanded the first paramedic.

"Charging to 200!"

"Charged!"

"Clear!" JJ's body jolted and rose partially off the ground. Reid, who paled even more when she crashed, cried out when they shocked her.

Emily and Morgan jumped to their feet and Hotch took a step closer to the dying agent, someone he considered a close friend. Gideon had a firm grasp of Reid's arms and held him back as he tried to go to his wife's side again.

"No!" came Reid's broken whisper. "Not now Jen, you can't leave me here! There's so much I still have to tell you! There's so much we still have to do together! You can't stop fighting! That's not the woman I married. I married a hard-hitting, obdurate woman who wouldn't back down from any fight! I know that you're tired! I was tired when Tobias had me in that cabin, but the thought of you kept me going. It made me fight! Now it's your turn! Fight Jen! Fight for me baby. I need you. Without you I'm lost…I'm nobody."

"Charging to 250!"

"Charged!"

"Clear!" They shocked her body again and Reid felt like he had been hit by an eighteen wheeler.

"No change," stated the first paramedic. Reid started spouting off statistics on people being resuscitated after sustaining a major injury. Gideon looked at Hotch and his eyes said the same thing, _if we lose JJ, we're going to lose Reid too. _

Hotch watched on as the paramedics worked furiously on JJ. He saw Jason attempting to soothe a hysterical Reid. He saw Emily and Morgan standing together crying. _Hold it together Hotch. If there was ever a time that the team needed you to be strong, it's now. _But no matter how much he told himself to be strong, he was faced with an agent nearing her death, another one dying inside watching her slip away and the rest of his team hurting so badly that tears sprung to his eyes. _What if that had been Hailey while she was pregnant with Jack?_ There was no use in trying to hold back his tears, so he let them flow openly down his face.

"Charging to 300!"

"Charged!"

"Clear!" JJ's body was jolted again when a little mewing gasp was heard.

"We've got her back! We need to get her to a hospital _now_! She can't wait!"

The paramedics strapped her into the backboard and lifted her from the ground and into the back of the ambulance.

Reid scrambled into the back of the vehicle as Morgan slammed the doors and slapped his hand on it once they were safely closed.

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**What do you think? Hopefully none of you hate me…lol. PLEASE review and let me know what you thought of the chapter and what you think should happen. I've already written another chapter or two, but I would still love the input.**

**Cheers,**

**FeistyFeral**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing and it's making me terribly sad. I think the only way to remedy that (other than giving me the rights to the show and its characters) is to R&R!! lol, but seriously, please review!**

**Thanks to everyone that has read and reviewed my story so far! You all really make my day so much better!! A special shout out goes to mabelreid for her touching review!**

**I said I would update later in the week, so here you go! Again, I'm sorry for the cliffhanger! Lol I'm so thrilled that you are all enjoying this story so far!! Thanks again for your amazing support!!**

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The ride to the hospital was a blur of shouted vital signs and calls to the ER, and yet it seemed to take an eternity for Reid.

The doors to the ER crashed open as the ambulance stopped and JJ's limp body was wheeled into the ER and behind closed doors. Reid tried to follow them in, but an older nurse with chin length salt and pepper hair and blunt features took his arm and said, "I'm afraid that you can't go in there."

"But I'm her husband! She needs me in there!" Reid all but shouted.

The nurse took in his anguished features and softly said, "I know that honey, but the doctors have to work and it's better for everyone if you wait out here. Can you tell me about your wife?"

"Her name is Jennifer Reid; she's twenty-two weeks pregnant and had some spotting in her seventeenth week. Her OBGYN is Dr. Charlotte Michaels. She has B positive blood, the same as mine; I'll donate anything that will help. She's…she's my life," that last sentence seemed to suck the last of the adrenaline from Reid's veins and he collapsed to his knees as the team came bursting through the doors.

Gideon strode towards his 'son' and knelt beside him trying to get him to stand up and move to a couch, but Reid couldn't even hear him because he had retreated to his mind.

Snapshots and scenes flowed through his eidetic memory in perfect clarity. JJ walking down the aisle towards him on their wedding day, JJ on the beach during their honeymoon with her hair billowing behind her as she ran from him while he tried to catch her and throw her into the chilly ocean water, JJ jumping into his arms after they found out she was pregnant, JJ laying in his arms after they'd made love, walking into their kitchen and seeing her making him coffee while she wore one of his t-shirts. He could hear her laugh in his ears, feel her touch on his skin and smell her scent in his nose.

Morgan moved forward and picked up the man he considered to be the little brother he never had and lay him on a couch.

Hotch stepped forward and flashed his badge at the nurse, "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner from the Behaviour Analysis Unit of the F.B.I. I'm directly responsible for Jennifer Reid's health as she was out in the field at the time of her attack."

"I have no information, but when I do I can only speak to her husband or next of kin."

Hotch fixed her with one of his looks that wiped the defiant look from her face, "I understand that you have a job to do. All I'm asking is that if anything," he cleared his throat, "bad should happen to Agent Reid, I would like to be the one to tell her husband."

"I-I think that wo-would be acceptable."

"Thank you Ma'am." Hotch turned on his heel and went to sit by Reid whose eyes were opened but unseeing. _He's only hanging on by a thread. If anything happens, Gideon may have to have him put into an institution, just like his mother. This would be Reid's worst fear, second only to losing JJ._

Hotch left to call Hailey. Even through she had left, he still needed to hear her voice to know that she and Jack were okay. Maybe that would remove some of the chill that had seeped into his soul.

Gideon faithfully sat beside Reid, occasionally trying to get him to talk, but his efforts were to no avail.

Emily sat in a chair making phone calls to the crime scene team at the site of the explosion to check on their progress while trying to figure out where things had gone so horribly wrong.

Morgan took turns either pacing the waiting room, restlessly sitting in a chair or on the phone with Garcia who called religiously every ten minutes when his mind went back to a conversation that had taken place only a couple days ago, even though it felt like a lifetime ago:

Flashback

_Reid looked up uncertainly, "Timothy Detler doesn't seem like he'd be able to pull this off. These killings took time and patience. They're meticulous. He's not. It doesn't seem that logical."_

"_Reid," Morgan said, getting the team's attention. "Detler's devolving. We know that. It's just happened faster than most. A lot faster, I'll give you that, but still he's the right guy; he knows too much about these crimes, details that JJ didn't release in any of her press conferences. He's our guy." The rest of the team murmured their agreement._

"_Okay, but this still doesn't feel right. It feels like we're missing a piece of the puzzle; an important one."_

End flashback

_Reid knew something was off with this unsub and we brushed off his instincts as discomfort from his imprisonment with Tobias. We should have considered a second unsub! How could we have missed that?_

Morgan's head was spinning. He kept thinking back to just before they had gone into the building when JJ waved to him. She looked so happy; she seemed to glow like most pregnant woman do. After they had exited the building Reid had whipped out his cell phone and was dialing JJ's number to check up on her and he had made a stupid joke about it. Now JJ was dying or close to it he had made fun of Reid for confirming her well being. He mentally berated himself for being so callous. He turned on his heel and went to the one place that he thought might help, the one place he swore he would never go to again; the hospital chapel.

Hotch stood outside the doors to the ER for a long time after he hand finished his call with Hailey. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was all his fault. If only he had heeded Reid's intuition and taken a second look at the case, but he didn't have his mind on the case. He was thinking of how he could fix things between Hailey and himself and now JJ was fighting not only for her own life, but for the life of her unborn child. He shook his head in disgust at himself and headed back to where his second family was waiting.

After what felt like an eternity, a slender woman in hospital scrubs came through a set of doors and couldn't make eye contact with anyone for a few moments. She finally looked up and called, "Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch's heart jumped into his throat. The doctor would have gone straight to Reid, unless something horrible had happened. He asked the nurse to have the doctor to come and tell of any bad news first and he momentarily regretted that decision. He stood and strode over to her portraying the confidence and strength he didn't feel, "Yes?"

"Mrs. Reid sustained a mass amount of damage to her body. It appears that she was rather close to the explosion and the impact from the blast threw her a considerable distance. Her left leg has a compound fracture, she has two broken ribs on the left side and three on the right, a sprained wrist, first, second and third degrees to her back and legs. There is a fracture in her skull from the impact and there was some internal bleeding. We had to perform emergency surgery and she flat lined in the OR. She's on a ventilator, but stable for the time being and is recovering in the ICU. The next forty eight hours will be the most critical, but we'll just have to wait and see how she does."

Hotch took a deep breath and asked, "What about the baby?"

The doctor's face fell and she looked down, "The way Mrs. Reid landed and the force that she landed with…she tried to protect her stomach, but it wasn't possible. The placenta detached form the uterus and the fetus was deprived from oxygen for too long. That's why she had the internal bleeding. There were complications due to the extent of her injuries and there's less than a 5 chance of Mrs. Reid ever conceiving again and less than a 2 chance that she'll be able to carry to term if she becomes pregnant again. I'm so sorry. There was nothing else we could do." When she finished explaining the situation, she looked up at Hotch and he could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

"Was it a girl or a boy?" he whispered.

"A beautiful, seemingly healthy baby girl," the doctor's voice wavered as she tried to retain her professional tone.

"Thank you for telling me Ma'am. Can her husband see her now?"

"Yes. Only for a minute though. Mrs. Reid will be under sedation for the next twenty four hours and she needs her rest. She's in room 2541."

"Of course." As the doctor walked away her shoulders slumped in defeat at the loss of the innocent life.

Taking a deep breath, Hotch made his way over to the team who were standing around Reid. He knelt in front of Reid and cleared his throat. "Reid?" There was no indication that the young agent had heard his superior and Hotch's voice softened. "Spencer? Spencer I need you to listen to me. I have news about JJ."

Reid's eyes suddenly focused on Hotch as he tried to hold back his tears.

"JJ's recovering in the ICU right now. She has a lot of injuries and there was some internal bleeding, but they controlled it through emergency surgery and she's on a ventilator. The doctor said that the next forty eight hours will be the most critical and that they are going to keep her sedated until tomorrow."

Hotch glanced up at the team and saw the hurt and questions in their eyes. They had all noticed how he hadn't mentioned the baby. He just hoped that Reid was too distraught to perceive the exclusion.

Reid's mouth moved, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. He swallowed and tried again, "What about our baby? You didn't say anything about our baby."

For the first time in his life, Hotch found himself struggling to maintain eye contact with the fragile man. "The way she landed…she tried to protect the baby, but the placenta detached from the uterus and there was nothing the doctor's could do."

Reid's breathing hitched, "No. That's not…this can't be happening. That's all JJ's ever wanted! We're having a baby in less than eighteen weeks. Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm so sorry Spencer."

"Was it a boy or a girl?"

"A girl."

"A girl," Reid repeated. "Wait, you said there was internal bleeding. Was that from when the placenta detached? Were there complications?"

Hotch paused, unsure if Reid could take the news but he decided that he had to find out the truth sometime and it was better for him to know now and start dealing with that before JJ woke up. "Yes, that's why there was internal bleeding. The doctor's did all they could, but they say that there's less than a 5 chance of JJ conceiving again and less than a 2 chance of her ever carrying to term."

The blood drained from Reid's face and he looked like he had aged a decade as he declared, "No, that's not fair. I know that life's not fair. I've dealt with it all my life, but JJ never did anything to anybody that didn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve this. Not her. It's not right."

Gideon looked up with tears in his eyes, "I know Spencer, it's not right, but she needs you now. You will both have to deal with this loss together; however she needs to know that you're here right now. That will help her through the dark times to come."

Reid looked at Hotch, "Can I see her?"

"Of course. The doctor said she's in room 2541."

"Thank you," and with that Reid stood on his feet and went to be with his wife and somehow, Reid's politeness ate away at Aaron's soul. _How could he be polite at a time like this? He just lost his daughter and JJ may not make it through the night Hotch thought._

**Okay there you have it. I feel like a terrible person for not writing to allow baby Reid's survival, but it just wasn't meant to be. My muse wouldn't allow it. Suggestions? Comments? PLEASE R&R!! I need to know what you all thought of this chapter! Thanks to everyone that reviewed and don't forget to click that little button on the left! Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer: Don't even ask if I own anything. I think that the fact that I'm posting here and that my story isn't acted out on the TV show explains that no, I do not own the show or its characters. If I did, I'd be married to Reid or Morgan.**

**And the award for the world's worst author goes to…drum roll…FeistyFeral! Hi everyone, I'm sorry I haven't posted in almost two weeks, but I seem to have done something to my muse and she seems to be very angry with me at the moment. She won't tell me what to write next. Any ideas? **_**Please **_**share them! I have a little Morgan/Garcia in the next chapter, but nothing else…A special thanks to mabelreid and tearbos for their amazing reviews and suggestions!**

**Oh! And I apologize for any errors with my story; I'm not a doctor, nurse, profiler, etc.**

He stood in the doorway to the dim room for a long time and listened to the steady beeping of the various machines and the hiss of the ventilator as it pumped life into JJ's lungs.

He finally gathered the courage to walk over and sit by her bed. She had a bandage on the right side of her forehead, her wrist was in a splint and her leg was in a cast. She had bruises and scrapes over all of her exposed skin. She looked like hell, but she was still breath-takingly gorgeous.

"Oh God, Baby, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! I should have insisted on looking more closely at the unsub. I was just so preoccupied with thoughts of you and," Reid let out a choked sob, "the baby." With that, he glanced down at her abdomen that, unlike before, was much flatter. "I can't believe this is happening to us, to you. You deserve better than this. You deserve better than me. I love you so much and I just want you to know that I'm going to be here for you for as long as you need…" Reid couldn't talk anymore because his throat seemed to close on him and the scope of the situation fully sunk into his remarkable brain. He sat there sobbing until his eyes were red and swollen and this throat was raw. He was still afraid to touch her as if he might inflict more pain and suffering by his touch. Afterwards he sat there trying to think of what he was going to tell his wife when she woke up, but his mind did not seem to be able to function through the fog that had settled there. A nurse finally came in and told the haggard man that visiting hours were over and that he had to leave.

The team sat in the same taupe waiting room in stunned silence. They had almost lost a close friend and they were struggling to comprehend the whole situation and how to help Reid and JJ through their time of need.

Morgan sat looking at his hands that had killed unsubs and saved the innocent, "I should have listened to Reid. I thought that the religious references and imprisonment of the victims reminded him of his time with Tobias. I should have known better. This is my fault. Reid is like the little brother that I always wanted and when he asked me to listen, I ignored him and brushed off his misgivings."

"Morgan, that's not tr—"

"Don't say that it's not true Emily," Morgan declared with a rising voice, still unable to look up from his hands to the looks of pity from the team. "I know it is! This is…this is all my fault. Now Reid and JJ will have to suffer the repercussions!"

"That's enough Morgan!" Hotch nearly shouted. He cleared his throat and regained some of the composure that he seemed to have lost, startling the team. "It wasn't your choice. _I _decided to ignore Reid's warning. _I _let other things in my life cloud my mind and my judgment._ I _put all of you at risk and now JJ is fighting for her life. _I _made her lose the baby and because of _me_ Reid's spirit seems to have shattered. This isn't your fault Morgan, as much as I would like to place the blame elsewhere, it rests solely on _my_ shoulders and _my_ conscience." Hotch looked up from the chair he was sitting on and into the eyes of the team. His team. His family. "Go back to the hotel. You need some rest. Tomorrow we will start looking for his new unsub. Hopefully when JJ wakes up she may be able to give us a description of her assailant."

Morgan's mouth opened to argue to stay but it snapped shut again due to the look Hotch was directing in his direction. He hung his head and rose to leave the room. He looked like a completely different man: his posture was slouched, his hands slightly shook, his face was void of it's usual carefree smile and his eyes were haunted. Turning to Hotch he saw that the man was not moving to leave. Morgan asked, "Will you call if there's a change?"

"Of course."

Morgan held out his hand to help Emily up from her seat. Together, they left the hospital.

"I meant you too, Jason," Hotch stated in a tired voice.

"I know. Do you want to talk Aaron?"

"No. Not right now. I need to think. I have to make a report. Talking isn't high on my list of priorities right now. But when I'm ready, you'll be the one I'll look for."

"Okay. My phone is on. Call me anytime. I don't care how late or how early it is."

Hotch allowed a rare smile, "I know your phone is always on. I'm the one that calls at all hours of the night to drag you from your warm bed to a crime scene."

Gideon chuckled, "You're right. Call me." With that Gideon got up, put a hand on Hotch's shoulder and left the hospital.

A little while later Reid came down the hallway to the waiting room that was devoid of life, except for Hotch who was filling out a report. He dropped into the chair next to his superior officer and put his head in his hands. He had no more tears to cry, but he still felt like his heart had been torn to shreds.

Hotch watched Reid for a moment, then leaned over and put an arm around his shoulders. Reid rested his head on Hotch's shoulder for a few moments then looked up into his eyes. The eyes that were usually empty of emotion and carefully guarded were now filled with hurt and anger, but most importantly, guilt.

"It's not your fault."

_Here's Reid, whose wife's life is hanging by a thread, who just lost his child, comforting me._

"Reid—"

"It's not. You did your job. I only threw out that comment about the unsub because I," he sighed, shaking his head as if the action would remove the fog from his mind. "I don't even know why I threw out that comment. It isn't your fault. It just isn't. I don't know how else to describe it. My brain doesn't seem to want to help me out with this one, but I don't blame you and neither will JJ."

Those simple words seemed to soothe Hotch's soul. "Do you want me to drive you to the hotel? You need your rest."

"No. I want to stay here. You should get back to the hotel. The team will need you in the morning."

"I can stay here," Hotch offered.

"No, go back to the hotel. I'll call you if there are any changes," Reid promised.

Hotch nodded, gathering his papers. He stood and looked at Reid and noticed just how young this man really was. Only in his mid twenties he had already lost and suffered through so much, too much for someone of his age. He saw it in the dark circles under his hollow eyes, in the white line where his lips pressed together, in the tiredness of his slouched body and in the hurt that emanated from his being. "Call me if there's even the slightest change."

"I will. Goodnight Hotch."

"Goodnight Reid."

Reid watched Hotch's retreating form and when he was sure the other man was really gone, he moved to the couch and lay down. The glint of his wedding band caught his eye and he lay there thinking of what that small, golden band meant. He tried again to think of what to tell JJ when she woke up. He was still thinking about it when sleep mercifully invaded him.

When Morgan, Gideon and Emily reached the hotel they all went straight to their rooms without saying a word to each other.

Gideon entered the dark room and went to his bed, discarding his gun and badge on the way. He lay on top of the covers, too tired to even climb underneath them or remove his shoes. He lay there and finally let himself cry for the first time that day. He cried for JJ's health, he cried for Reid's distress, but he also cried for the loss of the innocent life of baby Reid.

Morgan got into his darkened room and answered his ringing phone, "Morgan."

"Hey sugar plum."

"Hi Garcia. How are you?"

"I'm worried. How are you?"

"I feel like crap."

"Any news?" Garcia inquired.

Derek paused for a long moment, trying to gather up whatever reserves he had so that he wouldn't breakdown over the phone, "Yes," he cleared his throat that seemed to be swelling closed. "It's not good though."

Garcia gasped, "Oh God Derek! Don't tell me that JJ—"

"No!" he interrupted. "JJ's okay, for the time being. She has a lot of serious injuries though. She's on a ventilator and they're keeping her sedated until sometime tomorrow. Tonight is going to be the most critical time period."

"You scared me! I thought you said it was bad news. I mean, I know that JJ's injuries are horrible, but she's alive and so is the ba—"

"Penelope…" Morgan started as he felt his resolve wash away like a sandcastle built too close to the edge of the water when the tide begins to come in.

"What?"

"The way JJ landed. There were…complications. The baby," Morgan's voice broke and he began to weep, "The baby didn't make it."

"N-no. Th-that's not…that's not true! Don't say that! It can't be true!" she cried.

"I'm so sorry baby girl. I know how excited you were to be a Godmother."

"Wh-what was it? JJ wanted a girl. She wouldn't tell Reid because she would have been happy with either, but she wanted a little girl so badly."

Morgan couldn't speak for a long moment. The intensity of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks. When he found his voice, he confirmed, "It was a baby girl."

"No!" Garcia's breathed as she began crying quietly on the line, trying to stay strong for Morgan because she knew how much he must be hurting, "I'm coming."

"Okay," Morgan whispered, knowing better than to try and stop Penelope Garcia from coming to her best friend's side in her greatest time of need.

"I'll let you go," Garcia's voice cracked as she spoke the words and Morgan knew that she needed to absorb this information in her own way. "I'll be there as soon as humanly possible."

"Okay. Goodnight Sweetness."

"Goodnight." The line went dead.

That phone call had robbed Morgan of any remaining hold he had on his emotions. He cried unabashedly as he stripped on his way to the shower. He still had some of JJ's blood on his hands and no matter how hard he scrubbed, it seemed to have seeped into his skin. _It's symbolic. Not matter what Hotch said, it still feels like this is all my fault. JJ's blood is on my hands._ Morgan turned the water on as hot as he could stand it and stood under the scalding spray until the water ran cold. He climbed out, donned a pair of boxers and tried to sleep. After tossing and turning for almost two hours he got up and started going over the case files again, combing through them to see what he had missed.

Spencer didn't know how long he had been lying on the stiff waiting room couch. He was so lost in his own mind he didn't even notice as a couple new nurses went to their station and spoke with their colleagues. Their heartbroken glances were lost on him as were their sighs and one nurse's tears. The earlier shift left quietly together, looking sorrowfully at Reid as they passed him. A young nurse with long curly blonde hair and light purple scrubs left the floor and returned a short time later with a disposable bowl of soup. She approached Reid as if he were a wounded animal, "Mr. Reid?"

Spencer snapped out of his trance and sat up, feeling every bone and muscle in his body protesting, "Yes?" he whispered fearfully.

"I just checked on your wife and her condition hasn't changed, although her vital signs have slightly improved."

"Thank God," he sighed.

"I just came on shift, my name is Erin. I'm so sorry about your loss, but from what I've heard your wife sounds like a fighter and I'll pray for her."

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Here," she said while extending the bowl of soup towards him with a plastic spoon.

"No thank you. I'm not hungry."

"I know that you don't want to eat; I get that. I was the same way when my fiancée was ill, but you need to eat, thrust me—I learned that lesson the hard way."

"I'm not hungry, but thank you."

_Okay, it's time for a change in tactics._ "I'll tell you what. If you eat this bowl of soup I'll let you spend the rest of the night in your wife's room."

"Wouldn't you get in trouble? Statistically, most hospitals have policies that don't allow family members in—Sorry," he apologized as he blushed slightly.

Erin smiled, "Don't worry about that. I'll be back in ten minutes and if you're done your soup you'll be free to go and see your wife."

Spencer nodded and Erin left; he opened the container and the smell of chicken soup hit his nostrils. He devoured the soup because he was anxious to be back at JJ's side and also because he didn't realize just how hungry he really was until he smelled the soup.

Almost ten minutes to the second Erin rounded the corner, sat down and smiled at Reid when she saw the empty bowl and some slight colour returning back to his still pale face, "How was it?"

"It was actually pretty good. Did you get it in the cafeteria?"

She laughed, "God no! There's a little place around the corner that makes great food at reasonable prices. I went there."

"Well, thank you Erin."

"Anytime. Let's go and check on your wife," she said as she rose to her feet; Reid followed suit and got to his weary feet.

They entered the dim room and Erin checked JJ's vitals again and scanned her chart. She nodded reassuringly at Reid and said, "If you need anything, press the call button on the wall or shout for help, I'll be close by."

"Thanks Erin."

"No problem. I'll be back in a little while to check on Mrs. Reid again. Try and get some rest; you'll need it for when she wakes up." With that she turned and left the room with her running shoes quietly squeaking on the linoleum floor.

Reid claimed a chair in the corner of the room and moved it as close to his wife as humanly possible. He lightly clasped her hand in his and whispered, "I'm here, Jen. I'm here." He rested his forearm on the arm rail and slowly dropped his head on it as his eyes closed and he fell into a dreamscape of better times; happier times. Back to times when JJ was happy, healthy and safe, back when they were lying in bed and talking about their unborn child and all their hopes and dreams for her, back when the world seemed right simply by the movement of their precious child. Back before Spencer's world fell to pieces…

Morgan was so absorbed in his work that he didn't notice the sun beginning to break through the crack between the curtains in his room, he didn't register answering his wake up call and he almost didn't hear the knock at his door until it turned into a loud thumping. He looked up from the floor where the files were spread around him and furrowed his eyebrows. _Was that the door?_ His question was answered as the pounding resumed, he jumped to his feet, fearing the worst. He swung the door open and was floored to see a disheveled Penelope Garcia behind an exhausted looking Emily.

"Look who I found," Emily said quietly with a fake smile on her face.

Derek tried to smile but failed miserably. Garcia brushed past Emily and grabbed Derek in a bone crushing embrace, "How are you?" she whispered against his shoulder.

Derek opened his mouth to speak but felt his control slipping so he disentangled himself from Penelope and bolted from the room practically running down the mundane hotel hallway and up the stairs until he hit the door to the roof, which he burst through and stumbled onto the roof. His chest heaved, not from physical exertion, but from trying to hold back the dam of emotion bursting in his chest.

Morgan stumbled a few steps forward and found a pigeon coop which made him smile despite the circumstances. As he moved forward the cooing birds quieted as if sensing his emotional turmoil. He stood before them and tried to get control over himself, but it was impossible as a tear dropped down his cheek, followed by another and another until he found himself with a salty waterfall pouring from his chocolate orbs. _This is all my fault. I can't even look at Penelope without seeing the accusations in her eyes! I should have listened to Reid!_ He berated himself, _I should have gone over the case file more thoroughly on the flight over! I should have…_Morgan's thoughts continued to assault him in such rapid bombardment that he didn't even hear the door to the roof open or the high heels clicking on the cement in his direction. He didn't even know he wasn't alone until a hand softly landed on his shoulder; he jumped and spun around, ready to defend himself only to look into Penelope's stunning eyes. He quickly wiped the tears off of his face, but it was of little use as they kept coming so he turned his back to her.

"Don't shut me out Derek," Penelope whispered.

"I…didn't…I should have…" he choked out.

"No!" she shouted, silencing Morgan immediately with the ferocity in her tone. "You _did_ do everything possible! I was talking to Emily and Hotch; they both agreed that they didn't think there was another unsub! You couldn't have stopped this from happening! Even _if_ you had all agreed that there was another unsub, you would have still gone to that building to save that woman! JJ would have _insisted_ on going with you! There was _nothing_ you could have done to have stopped this from happening! It was out of your control!"

"Oh Mama…" he murmured as he turned to face her, "I just…"

"I know Derek, I know," she soothed as she stepped closer to him and opened her arms. Derek moved into them without hesitation as he buried his head into the crook of her neck and cried like he hadn't in nearly 20 years. Garcia just held him and let her own grief and anger out as they cried together as the sun broke over the horizon.

**Thanks for reading it, now please review! Let me know what you think should happen. I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish this story. It appears that I may have bitten off more than I can chew…**

**FeistyFeral**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to everyone for their **_**amazing**_** reviews and encouragement! I've decided to continue this story until it's done. bewildered look I'm sorry this update wasn't posted sooner, but I ended up in the E.R. earlier and I am so sick now. Anyway, that's enough complaining from me, here you go! Enjoy and **_**please **__**review**_**at the end!**

**FeistyFeral**

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer: Non, Geen, Nein, Não, Нет, Ingen, NO! I don't own anything. **

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Erin walked into Jennifer Reid's room to check on her as well as her distraught husband; she was glad to see that he was finally sleeping. Mrs. Reid's vitals were better so she replaced her IV bag almost silently, made notes in her chart and left the room. As she rounded the nurse's station one of her older colleagues looked up from her paperwork and asked, "How is she?"

Erin sighed, "Her vitals are slightly better."

"And her poor husband?"

"He's sleeping."

"Finally."

Erin smiled, "Yeah, he needed to sleep. I don't know why they wouldn't let him stay with her."

The other nurse's mouth set in a grim line, "It's hospital policy and you could get into a lot of trouble if anyone find out he's in there."

"It's a stupid rule!" she spat out, "Some studies have shown that patients respond positively to hearing the voices of their loved ones and if anyone needs to improve right now it is Mrs. Reid."

"I know," she acknowledged as she resumed writing in various charts.

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The sun rose and Spencer was jolted from sleep as someone gently nudged him, "Mr. Reid?"

Spencer jumped up from his chair and looked around wildly, fearing the worst, "What happened?" he asked noticing a slender woman in a white lab coat standing at the foot of JJ's bed.

"Nothing bad has happened," she assured the man and his shoulders slumped in relief. "I'm Doctor Grant, your wife's primary physician. I just wanted to let you know that Jennifer's vitals have improved somewhat overnight and she is using the ventilator less than yesterday. If things continue as they have been, we should be able to remove it later on today."

Spencer nodded, "When will she wake up?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly, "Your wife sustained major injuries and she hit her head pretty hard on the ground. We have been keeping her under sedation to allow her body the time it needs to start healing, but she may not wake up right away. I stopped giving her the sedative, but we will just have to wait and see what happens."

Reid's eyes fell to the ground as he tried to control the feeling of utter hopelessness that was beginning to overwhelm him when a quiet knock sounded at the opened door; Reid instantly recognized the voice of one Jason Gideon, "Can I come in?"

Dr. Grant looked at Gideon, recognizing him from the waiting room yesterday, then back to Reid whose eyes still seemed to be glued to the ground, "Sure." She walked over to Gideon and said, "I'm Doctor Grant," she offered her hand.

"Jason Gideon," he replied as he accepted her hand and shook it, "Thank you for everything you and your team have been doing."

"It's my job, but my husband is a local police officer. I can't imagine what Mr. Reid is going through, but he needs to eat. Mrs. Reid is slightly better, although it's still touch-and-go for now. I've stopped giving her the sedative, although I doubt she will wake up anytime today."

Gideon nodded, "I understand. Thanks again."

Dr. Grant smiled weakly and left the room; Gideon walked over to Reid, "Hi Spencer."

"Hi Gideon," Reid whispered with anguish clear in his tone.

"I saw a café on my way here. Let's go and get something to eat."

"No, I just want to stay here. I'm not even hungry."

Gideon sighed inwardly, "Spencer, you need to go and eat. You won't be any good to JJ if you pass out. Go to the cafeteria and I'll sit with JJ; I promise I'll call you if there's any change at all."

Reid was about to refuse the offer again until he saw the worn look in Gideon's eyes. He had been so absorbed in his own grief that he had failed to notice how much of a toll this was taking on his mentor, "Okay."

Gideon gave a small smile and placed a hand on Spencer's back, "Good. Make sure you eat something and don't just drink a cup of coffee."

Reid nodded his head, kissed JJ's hand and left the room.

Gideon took a seat in the recently vacated chair, "Hi Jennifer, it's Jason," he watched her face for any sign that she had heard him, but there was none. "I want you to know that I'm here and so is Spencer. I just sent him down to the cafeteria to get something to eat and I bet he'll be back soon. I want you to know that at this exact moment the whole team is working on the case to find the unsub who did this to you; Penelope even flew down and I'm pretty sure she has been begging Hotch to let her have five minutes alone with the unsub when we catch him. I also want you to know that I'll take care of Spencer until you wake up. You don't have a choice in the matter—you need to wake up and heal together because Spencer can't live without you and I can't put him into an institution like his mother. You need to come back to us as soon as you can." Gideon opened his mouth to say more but Reid skidded back into the room with a disposable bowl of soup and he had to chuckle to himself.

"I'm back and I have food."

"I see that. Take a seat and eat it," he instructed in his most paternal voice.

Reid took a seat and began to consume the steaming liquid; halfway though the bowl Gideon's phone buzzed. He took it off his belt and stepped out of the room, "Gideon."

"It's Morgan," came the thick voice and Gideon recognized that the younger man had been crying, "How is she?"

"Slightly better then yesterday, the doctor wants to remove the ventilator later on today and he stopped giving her the sedative."

A sigh came through the phone line, "That's good. Penelope wants to come over and see her; would it be okay if we stopped by?"

"I doubt that wild horses could keep you away," he surmised, "I'll let Spencer know that you'll be here in a little bit."

Morgan cleared his throat, "Actually…"

"You're already here," he assumed.

"Yes," came the sheepish reply, "Downstairs."

"Come on up, I should probably head back to the hotel and review those files anyway."

"We'll be there in a minute." With that Gideon heard the phone click indicating the call had been disconnected. He turned and saw that Spencer had finished his bowl of soup and was back at his place my JJ's right side, "Morgan and Garcia are on their way up here."

Spencer nodded, never taking his eyes off his wife. The distinctive clicking of high heels on the linoleum floor was heard followed by the entrance of Penelope Garcia and Derek Morgan. Penelope was dressed in a neon pink tank top and a black gypsy style skirt that fell to her ankles. Her look was completed with florescent pink pumps and lime green framed glasses; Derek was in a pair of worn jeans and a black t-shirt, his eyes were still red and his voice was slightly raw.

Once in the room Garcia quickly moved to Spencer's side and enveloped him in one of her infamous hugs; whispering comforting noises into his ear. Reid nodded a few times until Penelope released him from her grip and turned towards the bed holding her best friend. "Can you give me a minute with JJ?" she asked everyone in the room.

Murmurs of agreement came from all in the room as they left. Penelope sat down and pulled her purse from her lap, "Hi Jen, it's Penelope. I'm so sorry about everything that has happened, but you know that I'll take care of Reid until you come back to us and I'll even try and get some meat on those skinny bones of his for you. I love you Jen!" She wiped away the stay tear from her face, sniffed then opened her bag with a grin, "Don't you worry JJ, I'll have you looking as good as always. These men don't get that sometimes a woman needs a little lip gloss to make her feel a whole lot better!" she snatched a lip gloss with a soft pink hue and applied it to JJ's lips. Her next task was brushing out JJ's impossibly beautiful hair, "Good Lord Jen! What have they done to your hair?!" she exclaimed as she tried to disentangle the knots from her hair as gently as possible. After a few curses and creative phrases JJ's hair was nicely combed to Penelope's liking, "I did the best I could Jen, but there's only so much someone with my talent can do while there's a huge bandage coving part of your head."

Derek and Reid had been on their way back to Jennifer's bedside after saying farewell to Gideon but were dumbstruck at the sight before them: here was Jennifer Reid struggling for her life and Penelope was giving her a make over. For some reason, it seemed like a perfectly fitting thing for Penelope to do for her friend.

Reid cleared his throat and Garcia glanced up from removing various things from her oversized lime handbag, "What's up my delightful genius?"

"Um…what are you doing?" He asked uncertainly.

"Making this sterile room slight more bearable," she explained slowly, as if Reid were just a small child.

Derek put a hand on Reid's shoulder, "Just let Garcia do her thing, my man. You don't want to tangle with her right now." Reid nodded distractedly at the rainbow assortment coming from Penelope's purse.

Derek laughed and Garcia looked up, "A picture of the two of you," she explained as she placed the bright yellow framed picture on the small table beside her bed, "Her favourite mixed CD," she explained as she removed an orange CD case, "Lotion so her hands don't get dry," she clarified placing the tube beside the frame, "And of course lip gloss so her lips don't get chapped along with a brush and this," she exclaimed a she picked up a large bag that Spencer had failed to notice until that point. "Ta da!" she cried out as she removed the multi coloured quilt that she had made for the Reid's on their wedding day—the quilt that has previously been on the end of their bed.

"Penelope," Reid said with shock and admiration clear in his voice as his sluggish mind recognized every item as something from their home, "How did you get all of these things?"

"Some things are just entirely too easy," she smirked, "Especially when you work for the FBI. And I read this article online a few weeks ago about how familiar things help patients recover more quickly and completely. I know it helped me to have some of my things with me at the hospital after I was shot."

Reid nodded again and watched as Penelope spread the quilt over JJ's torso and feet, "There! That's _so _much better, don't you think?"

The two men nodded, not daring to think of voicing any contrasting opinions if they even had had any. She picked up her purse and hooked her arm with one of Reid's, "Come with me."

"No," Reid stopped dead in his tracks, "I can't leave her alone. Something might happen," he added the last part in a whisper.

Garcia shook her head, "Derek will stay with JJ and we won't be going very far. C'mon. You need to get some fresh air and something to eat."

"I just had a bowl of soup," he argued. Garcia just gave him a look and he surrendered, "Okay, okay!" His glance shot to Derek.

"I know my man, I'll watch over like a hawk. Nothing will happen to her."

"Thanks," he called over his shoulder as he was dragged from the room by the ambitious computer tech.

"I guess it's my turn," he muttered to himself as he sat beside JJ; unable to look at her for a long moment. "JJ…" he began but had to stop as he felt tears welling in his eyes. After a moment he figured he had his emotions under his control again so he continued, "It's Derek. I'm so sorry! I should have listened to Reid when he mentioned a second unsub! I didn't take him seriously and now you're here and your daughter…" He couldn't bring himself to say that the Reid's first child was deceased as tears fell from his eyes with abandon. "Hotch told me it wasn't my fault, but I feel like it is. Deep down in my heart I feel it and I'm so sorry! I'll look out for Reid and ensure that Penelope makes him eat because she seems like the only one that will be able to do that."

Morgan checked to make sure he was still alone before continuing, "I remember yesterday right before we left to enter the building you were talking to Reid and you two seem so perfect for each other. I remember you placing one of his hands on your stomach…" He paused again to try and rein in his emotions, but it was impossible to do so, "He looked so unbelievably happy and proud when he turned around! You really are his life now. And the two of you are some of my closest friends," he choked out, "I miss my friend. Get better soon so I don't have to sit here crying like a little girl," he chuckled, suddenly feeling a huge weight lifted off of his shoulder after being able to apologize to JJ.

He stood up and placed a gentle kiss onto the uninjured side of her head then walked over to the window and looked out. By the time Penelope and Reid came back to the room, they couldn't tell that Derek had been crying.

"How is she?" Penelope asked as Reid moved to JJ's side and whispered something into her ear.

"The same," came the soft reply.

"I wonder how the team is doing," Reid mused.

"I'm sure they're doing just fine without that big old brain of yours."

"Morgan, can you bring the case file here the next time you come?"

"No, no, no! I will _not_ allow that!" Interrupted Garcia.

"Garcia, I need something to occupy my time and to make me feel useful to the team…and JJ."

"Spencer, maybe you need to ju—"

"No. I need to do this. Please, try and see where I'm coming from; if Derek had been nearly killed, what would you want to do?"

"Read the file and help out," she admitted.

"Good! Now bring it here tomorrow and maybe I'll be able to find something to help."

"Okay."

Derek's phone began to vibrate, "Morgan." There was a long pause before, "We'll be right over Hotch. Give us 20 minutes." Derek clicked his phone closed, "They have the forensics reports back."

"That was fast," Reid observed.

"They tend to get these things done quickly when Federal Agents are involved. I also have a feeling Hotch called in a lot of favours to have it done this quickly."

"Then go and check it out. I want a copy of the file tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Sure," Morgan agreed as he kissed JJ's forehead again and gathered his belongings; Penelope followed suit and soon Reid was left alone with JJ as Morgan and Garcia rushed back to the hotel.

**Okay, that's it for now! I think that the next chapter will be centered around the team finding this unsub, but we shall have to wait and see what my muse decides. Thanks for reading! Please take the time to review!! Those reviews make my day!**

**FF**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again for the splendid reviews! You guys are remarkable! I'm still really sick and I've had a bit of time on my hands, so here's another chapter for you guys because you're always so good to me! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still nothing is in my possession except my own characters and the plot that I've created…**

**Warning: Tissues may be needed, judging from your responses from previous chapters (just thought I'd put that warning in for you mabelreid **

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Morgan and Garcia reached the hotel in record time and reached the conference room shortly thereafter. Upon opening the doors and walking in Garcia promptly sat down in front of her laptop which had been turned on while Morgan took the hard copy of the forensics report that Hotch had handed to him. They duo took the time to read over the report then got ready for their brainstorming session.

"Okay," Hotch began, "You have all read the forensic reports. We now definitely know that there are two unsubs; Timothy Detler and one other unknown male."

"This male is highly sophisticated; he was the brains behind their operation." Continued Morgan, "He probably planned and trained Detler to follow his commands. His plans were thrown off when Detler was caught in that building. He most likely called the unsub and alerted him to our presence whereupon he turned to his 'Plan B'. He created an explosive from various household items that are too common to trace."

"He figured out a way to get into the surveillance van and plant the device while our tech was out. From what Reid has told us, JJ ran into the second unsub while on her way to the van although she didn't know it at the time." Maintained Emily, "Once we had Detler in custody he waited to detonate the bomb until the team was in range, probably hoping to do as much damage to us as possible."

"The forensic team was unable to find any fingerprints or DNA on any of the pieces of the bomb. They may have been destroyed in the blast, but it's highly unlikely that anyone this organized and methodical would risk leaving any identifying characteristics behind," Gideon observed. "From what we now know I'd guess this unsub is a white male approximately 35-50 years old; went to college but probably dropped out before graduating due to a conflict with a peer or professor. He will come across as somewhat of a loner, only speaking to a select few people although not many. He will be physically strong although not especially intimidating. He's well spoken and probably blue collar although he will be living beyond his means while pretending to be white collar and he will probably have a strict religious background."

"This unsub has boon extremely violent towards all of his victims and it appears that when word that Detler was going to be taken into custody. He sees this as a personal attack and he has already gone after one member of the team. Let's not let him get two. Don't go anywhere alone. I want security around the clock for JJ." Hotch looked up, "Anything else you guys want to add?"

Emily slowly set her pen down on her pad of legal paper, "We won't be able to get a physical description until JJ wakes up. The survivor from yesterday went into shock and is catatonic. They've placed her in the psychiatric wing of the hospital and her doctors say that she is only hanging on by the thinnest of threads. I think that if we push her she will snap."

The team nodded in agreement, "Excuse me," Garcia spoke for the first time since entering the room and the team seemed shocked to have her in the room, "I don't mean to be rude or to overstep my bounds here, but what the hell are the lot of you thinking?! JJ nearly _died!_ Her baby _died!_ How…how can you possibly hope to interrogate her as soon as she wakes up?!" she nearly shouted; her voice rose as she stood from her chair.

"Penelope! That's enough!" Hotch calmly stated.

"No! No it's not! She's my best friend! That was my goddaughter that _died!_"

"We all know what happened, but—"

"I can't believe this!" came her anguished cry as she bolted from the room.

The room was so silent Morgan would have sworn he could hear his coworker's thudding heartbeats and saw the bewildered looks on their faces, "She's just so upset. I'll go and get her. She didn't mean what she was saying."

Hotch's expression had pain written all over it, "No Morgan, I'm pretty sure she meant every word of it. Go and talk to her then bring her back; I want to have a word with her."

"Yes Sir." Morgan left the room at a trot.

Hotch looked at the remaining two members of the team; he had been stretched to the max and he wasn't sure how much more he could take. "Let's get this profile out to the local police department. We'll meet back here later tonight to determine our next move."

Gideon and Emily got up, "Are you hungry?" asked Gideon.

"No," came the downtrodden reply from Emily.

"We need to eat. Let's go." Emily looked at Gideon and saw him looking at Hotch. "I'll meet you in the hotel restaurant."

"Okay," she said, taking the hint.

Once Emily had left the room Gideon turned to Hotch, "Aaron."

"Not now Gideon."

"Yes now. We need to talk."

"I—I can't." He finally admitted, "I need to catch this guy! I need to do something to make this better and I'm trying my best to hold it all together Jason, I'm really trying!" Hotch's eyes darted around the room and fell on the open door; he walked over and shut it. "If I talk about this now I'll lose it too and the team can't afford that to happen. _I _can't afford to let that happen, okay?"

"Okay, we'll talk about it after we solve this case, but until then you need to eat something."

"No!" he bellowed as he put his hand through the nearest wall. "Damn!" he whispered as he saw the broken skin and blood oozing out of his scraped and cut knuckles. He flexed his hand and made a fist to make sure nothing was broken.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy," came the sarcastic reply. "Let's keep this between us, okay?"

"Sure, but it may be a little hard when you have a team of professional observers come into a room with a hole in the wall and their boss's hand cut and bleeding."

Hotch let out an extremely rare bark of laughter as he shook his head, "I don't know why, but this is suddenly really hilarious."

Gideon laughed too, "I think that's the only the second time I've seen you lose your cool like that."

Hotch frowned, "What was the first?"

"Minnesota, 1999."

"Oh yeah," he winced at the memory.

"Do you want to join Emily and I for dinner?"

"No, I'm going to go and get cleaned up then probably grab something around the corner. Thanks Jason."

"Anytime," he said as he passed by Hotch, gently patting his shoulder on his way out the door.

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Morgan had been searching for Garcia for nearly fifteen minutes when he finally found her on the roof standing in nearly the exact same spot he had been in earlier that morning. "Hi Mama."

She sniffed, "How can Hotch talk about JJ like she's just another victim?"

"Because that's the only way he's going to be able to make it through this case," he explained as he wrapped his muscular arms around her waist from behind, "You should have seen him earlier; he almost lost it at the scene, he even cried."

Garcia tilted her head back to see Morgan's beautiful dark eyes, "Really?"

"Yeah. He's feeling the hurt from this case as much as the rest of us…maybe even more because he has Jack. You can see it in his eyes, even though he's trying his best to hide it."

"I just…I'm having a hard time dealing with this. I mean, our cases are brutal and heartbreaking, but I've never had anyone this close to me be so hurt before except when my parents died…"

"Baby girl, I'm so sorry. If I could make it all better or take the hurt from you—"

"I know you would do it in a heartbeat."

Derek smiled, "What do you say we go inside?"

"Oh God! Hotch probably hates me!"

"He understands."

"Yeah, but he's still going to tear me a new one when I go back in there!"

"I don't know about that, but if you want I'll go with you."

"You promise?"

"I promise. Let's go and get this over with. Then we can go and get the son of a bitch that did this to JJ and Reid."

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They ran into Hotch as he was leaving his hotel room with ice on his hand; Morgan raised his eyebrows, "It's nothing," Hotch stated, leaving no room for questions.

Penelope looked into his eyes and saw the raw anguish and hurt burning there and felt horrible for the way she had acted, "Hotch, I want to apologize for the way I acted and for—"

He held up his uninjured hand, "You don't need to apologize for anything. This has hit too close to home for all of us. I understand the emotions you're feeling and I'm feeling them too. Let's just get this guy before he can hurt anyone else, okay?"

"Yes Sir," came the nearly silent reply.

"I'm going to go to the hospital and tell Reid about the added security. I want the two of you to go and eat. That's an order. Gideon and Prentiss are in the hotel restaurant."

Morgan and Penelope walked off in search of food as Hotch made his way to the elevator while calling the local field office to arrange a security detail.

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Reid had been sitting beside JJ for what seemed like only minutes until Erin walked in, "Don't you work the night shift?"

"Yes," came the somewhat hesitant reply.

"Then why are you here now?"

"Because it's past dinner time."

Reid looked around the room and suddenly realized that the world was black outside the window, "Oh."

"When was the last time you ate Mr. Reid?" she asked as she began changing JJ's bandages.

"Please call me Spencer."

"When was the last time you ate Spencer?"

"Earlier."

"Uh huh. Go and get something to eat then come back."

"Not right now. I'll go later, when someone from the team is here."

"You're with the FBI, right?"

"Yes, the Behavioural Analysis Unit."

"That must prove to be interesting."

"Sometimes yes, but other times it just…"

"Makes it impossible to see the good in the world?" she finished.

"Exactly."

Erin flipped open JJ's chart and began to write her vitals down, "I'll be right back." And with that Erin left the room only to return ten minutes later. "I have some great news."

Reid's chocolate eyes looked up with the first spark of hope since JJ had nearly killed, "What?"

"Dr. Grant will be by shortly to remove the ventilator."

A tiny smile softened his features, "That's great. Did you hear that baby?" he asked as he leaned in and whispered softly in his wife's ear, "They're going to take out the ventilator soon!"

Erin smiled at the tender scene before her, "I'll be here when she does the procedure; if you need anything at all, I'll be at the nurse's station."

"Thank you."

Erin left the room and gave her colleagues an update on the Reid's. There were many smiles and a few 'Amen's' going when a monitor began beeping rapidly and Spencer Reid came flying out of his wife's room screaming, "SOMETHING'S WRONG! SHE NEEDS HELP!!"

Erin dropped the chart in her hand as she shouted for another nurse to call Dr. Grant, who happened to step out of the elevator at that exact moment, "Something's wrong with Mrs. Reid!" she shouted as the two women broke into a sprint towards the ailing woman's room.

When they entered the room JJ's eyes were fluttering and she was gasping while fighting against the restraints that held her arms securely at her sides. Erin sighed and Dr. Grant broke into a small smile. Reid was frantically hovering over JJ's bed trying to calm her down, he glanced up when Dr. Grant tried to move him aside, "What are you smiling at?! Help her!!"

"Calm down Mr. Reid, it's good that she's fighting the ventilator, it means she's ready to have it taken out!"

Reid stood stalk still as Dr. Grant spoke in low reassuring tones to JJ, "Mrs. Reid, I'm Dr. Grant. You are in a hospital and a ventilator is trying to breathe for you. You need to try and calm down so I can remove it. I'm going to take it out, when I say so I want you to take a deep breath out, do you understand me?"

JJ's hysterical movements stilled and she nodded her head slightly. Dr. Grant removed the ventilator from the tube down the agent's throat and said, "Breathe out." With that she pulled the tube from JJ's throat and in return JJ gagged then began to cough as Dr. Grant and Erin removed the soft restraints.

Tears of pure relief and joy began coursing down his face, "Oh thank you God! JJ! I love you!"

She tried to speak only to have Dr. Grant put an arm on her shoulder, "Don't try to speak."

JJ looked around the room and finally down at herself taking in her injuries and finally her belly. Something wasn't right; it was too small, too flat. She swallowed and looked up at her husband, "Wh—what?"

"Mrs. Reid, you shouldn't try to speak. I'll get you a pen and paper. Erin stay here and watch her for me." Erin acknowledged her superiors command.

However this was all taking too long for JJ so she began to furiously sign at Reid, "What is she doing?" asked Erin.

"American Sign Language. Her good friend in college was Deaf," came the distracted reply as the Sign Language textbook he had memorized flipped though his mind; putting JJ's words together.

_What happened? Is the baby okay? I don't feel it kicking!_

"Oh JJ, honey, I'm so sorry! There was an explosion and you landed on your stomach."

_No!_ Came the vehement sign as tears pooled in her cobalt eyes.

"They tried everything to save the baby, but there was nothing they could do. They tried honey, they really did try."

Tears coursed down her beautiful face as she cradled her lifeless stomach, _was it a boy or a girl?_

Reid struggled to maintain eye contact with his wife due to the unrefined pain and torment present there, "A girl. A healthy girl."

A heart wrenching sob came from JJ's lips as the realization that she had been unable to protect their baby's life. Reid moved in and cradled her as best he could with the various IV's and electrodes leading from her body. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I—I should have done s-something. I should have…"

JJ looked up at him and signed, _there was nothing you could have done. I should have protected our daughter better. I'm sorry Spence._

Dr. Grant returned to the room and stopped where she stood as if she had run into an invisible wall. She looked at Erin and motioned to give the couple their privacy.

Hotch exited the elevator and saw Dr. Grant standing at the nurse's station with a somber look on her face, "Doctor?"

She turned to face the Federal agent, "She's awake."

Hotch couldn't have contained his smile even if he had been willing to try, "That's incredible! How is she? Can I see her?"

"No. She asked about the baby and her husband broke the news to her. They just need some time alone right now."

The radiant smile that had been on his face suddenly died, "O-okay. I understand. How is she?"

"She just woke up and learned that she lost her first child, how would you be?"

Hotch pressed his lips together at the block of ice forming in the pit of his stomach as he pictured Jack in his mind, "Of course. I was on my way over to tell Agent Reid that there will be a security detail present until Mrs. Reid is able to leave the hospital. They'll be arriving shortly."

"Do I have any need to be concerned?" Asked the physician with concer flashing in her eyes.

"I would double hospital security, but I can't be sure if this man will come back here or not. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Yes it is."

"I'll wait out here until the security team arrives."

"Thank you."

Hotch took two steps into the hallway leading to JJ's room when he heard her sobs accompanied with Spencer's; the sound nearly killed him. The agents came within ten minutes and Hotch left them with strict instructions to keep everyone out of that room except for Dr. Grant and Erin, but to keep their distance.

He left the hospital and made it all the way to his car before the sound of his teammate's sobs began to echo in his ears. He climbed inside the vehicle and called Hailey, the phone rang for a long time before she answered; clearly awoken from a sleep.

"Hailey, it's Aaron. I need to hear Jack's voice. Can you put him on the phone for a minute?"

"No Aaron! Do you know what time it is?! I let you speak to him yesterday, but I am _not_ waking him up right now! Call back tomorrow and you can talk to him." The sound of the receiver being slammed back into the cradle resounded in his mind.

He put the key in the ignition before falling completely apart. Hotch sat in the darkened parking lot and sobbed with every fiber of his being; he cried for the Reid's and their loss, he cried for the loss of his wife and child, but he also cried for the loss of the innocent life of baby Reid. He must have sat there for close to a half an hour before he was able to pull himself together and drive back to the hotel. On the way back to the hotel he began to think, _this isn't like you Aaron! You need to get yourself together. Just treat this like any another case and deal with your emotions after. You cannot afford to make any more fatal decisions. The team is depending on you and you need to lead them through this time of darkness. _He frowned, _But it's so hard to remain objective when you know what JJ and Spencer are going through! You see the looks that the others give you: pity, anger and frustration! You feel the same way! Why should they be allowed to express that and you can't?_ Hotch let out a frustrated sigh; he was getting nowhere. He exited his vehicle and strode into the hotel, preparing what he was going to say to them.

**Okay, there it is! Let me know what you think by way reviewing please and thank you! You have all been so incredible to me through your phenomenal reviews!! I hope you liked this chapter!!**

**FeistyFeral**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Disclaimer: I'm still a poor student, which means I own nothing.**

**I'm back! Enough of my silly ramblings, here's the next chapter! Enjoy, and please don't forget to review!! Thanks everyone!!**

After he had gotten back to the hotel he called the remaining members of his team and they reconvened in the conference room. Emily saw Hotch's hand and gave a questioning look to Morgan who only shook his head in reply although his eyes were gazing at the gaping hole in the wall. Understanding dawned on the dark haired agent as she took her seat, "What's up?"

Hotch looked up, "I'm going to call a meeting with the local police department for tomorrow morning where we will give them our profile. Then we need to set to work on finding a suspect and making an arrest. As I said, he sees our arrest of Detler as a direct attack on him so he probably went after JJ because she was the easiest to target. I don't want any of you going out on your own; and please be especially vigilant. We don't know what this man looks like or if he is willing try to and attack us."

"What time will the meeting be for?" Asked Morgan.

"9 o'clock tomorrow morning."

The team acknowledged their leader's wishes. "I also have some other news."

Four pairs of eyes were instantly on him, "What is it?" Inquired Garcia apprehensively.

"I went to the hospital to tell Reid about the security detail," He cleared his throat, "Dr. Grant told me that JJ regained consciousness and they had removed her ventilator."

Cheers swelled in the room until Gideon spoke up, "What else are you not telling us, Aaron?"

The silence was so sudden and immanent that Hotch had to take a moment to gather the nerve to break this horrible news to his friends; his family. "JJ knows about the baby. I'm sure they would appreciate some time to themselves to process this loss tonight."

Heads bowed and sad sighed fluttered about the room, "That's everything. We all need to sleep tonight, even though we may not want to. We are going to have a very hectic week ahead of us and I need everyone as rested as humanly possible. Goodnight." He walked out of the room; to almost anyone who had been watching, Hotch would have seemed like a tired, stern businessman, heading off to his room after a late meeting in one of the hotel's conference rooms. However, the team noticed the way his head was faintly bowed and that his shoulders were slightly slumped, not as rigid and straight as they usually were. They saw the weight that was so great it seemed to make each and every step an immense struggle.

Emily was looking at her hands, blinking her eyes rapidly to try and banish the flood of tears that were trying to burst from her lids. Gideon sat with his thumb and index fingers pinching the bridge of his nose while his eyes were tightly shut. Garcia sat in her chair staring unseeingly at her laptop while tears silently tracked down her face and allowed Morgan, whose eyes were filling with tears, to wrap and arm around her shoulders and leaned into his embrace. Emily sniffed and the noise sounded like a gunshot in the room, effectively breaking the trance they all seemed to be in and Morgan looked to Gideon, "Is Hotch okay?"

Gideon's eyes slowly opened and he shook his head as he blew out a long breath slowly, "He has a lot of extra responsibilities on his shoulder, additional pressures that we can't possibly imagine, but he's doing about as well as the rest of us."

Morgan understood the meaning behind the elder agent's words as did everyone else at the table. "C'mon sweetness, I'll walk you to your room."

Garcia closed the portable PC and rose to her feet, "Goodnight Emily and Gideon."

"Goodnight Penelope," came Gideon's soft reply.

Garcia watched Emily until Morgan's large hand touched her lower back, gently guiding her from the room. While they were waiting for the elevator to arrive at their floor she turned to Morgan, "Is Emily okay?"

"I think she's doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances."

"I wonder how JJ and Spencer are doing."

Morgan's lips pressed together as his unending guilt resurfaced and bombarded him; grating on his raw nerves. The doors parted with a soft ding and he walked Garcia to her room, "Goodnight sweet girl."

"Goodnight Morgan," she said with a small smile as he gently kissed her right cheek.

"Lock your door and chain it. I'll wait until you do that, then I'll go to my room."

Garcia rolled her eyes, "A girl gets shot once and now she can't even be trusted to take care of herself," she sighed sarcastically, trying to bring a bit of humour to the situation but only causing more tension with the reference to her near death experience.

She closed the door, locked it and slid the security chain into place. She looked out the security hole to see Morgan rub a hand over his head, "Call me when you get to your room!" she commanded through the door.

He looked directly into the peep hole, "I will." Moments later her phone rang and she answered it, "I'm in my room."

"Okay, try and get some sleep."

"Sure," came the reply although she doubted either of them would be getting any sleep that night. "Goodbye."

"'Bye." The line clicked.

Morgan walked over to his bed and sat on the edge of it, trying to quell the rage that threatened to break through his restraint. He got to his feet and went into the washroom believing that maybe the scalding water of the shower could somehow wash away the fury and agony he was feeling.

Once he removed himself from the shower he dressed in only a pair of navy boxers and crawled into the bed, begging sleep to overtake him and help him forget, if for only a little while. Things almost always seemed a little bit better the next morning after he had a few hours of decent sleep. He tossed and turned and his begging turned into pleading as the pain he had been feeling before returned with fervor, making it physically hurt to breathe. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and began gasping for air; placing his head between his legs, trying to will this hurricane of emotion to cease.

Finally his breathing was no longer ragged, but nothing he did was helping with the emotional turmoil he was experiencing, so he did the next best thing he got dressed and padded down the hallway to another room.

-------------------------

Penelope Garcia had gotten into her hotel room, showered and decided to skip the façade of pretending to sleep and get straight to working on finding the unsub who had hurt two of the people she was closest to; people who were more family to her than anyone else in the world. There was a soft knocking on her door that startled her enough to make her reach for her cell phone and wish she had a gun. She opened the phone and entered Derek's number with her finger over the 'send' button and slowly made her way towards the door. When she got there she looked through the security hole in the door to see an empty hallway. _That's odd. Maybe you're losing it Penelope. Then again, the unsub targeted JJ and he may be trying to harm members of the team that took his pawn out of play._

She opened the door as far as the chain would allow and caught a glimpse of a figure turning the corner; her curiosity got the best of her. She slid the chain out, opened her door and proceeded to follow the figure with her arms ready for any kind of assault. After she had been shot by Battle, Derek had insisted on teaching her a whole barrage of self defense techniques

As she turned the corner Garcia was swept off her feet and landed on the carpeted floor with a muted thud. As she fell she threw her foot out and caught her attacker behind the knee, just like Derek had taught her. He landed beside her and she straddled him with her shaking fist aimed at his neck, ready to tell him not to move when she heard: "Penelope?!"

She looked down to see Morgan with a bemused expression marring his face, "Morgan?!"

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean what am I doing? What are you doing?"

Morgan sighed, "I couldn't sleep. I thought that maybe you were up and wanted to get a drink or something."

Garcia let out a wry chuckle, "I couldn't sleep either, hot stuff. I was just pouring over the information to see if I could come up with a profile for the second unsub. A drink would be appreciated."

"Well, you're going to have to get dressed if you want to go to the bar," Morgan observed as he made a show of taking in her appearance.

Penelope's face flushed as she realized that she was straddling the man of her naughty dreams in the middle of a hotel hallway wearing nothing but a pair of booty shorts and a tight tank top that was currently riding up her waist.

"I-I was j-just looking over files. I n-never expected to take you down in the hotel hallway!" she stuttered.

Morgan chuckled and rested his hands behind his head, "You never expected to 'take me down'? Who said you even took me down? I could have kicked your ass if I'd wanted too. I only stopped because I realized it was you."

Garcia rolled her eyes as she pushed off Morgan with more force than was necessary, "I took you down. The least you could do is take it like a man and admit it."

"Ouch!" Morgan exclaimed as he got to his feet.

She punched him on the arm and sauntered back to her room, trying to appear calm and graceful. She glanced back to see Morgan's eyes bugging out of his head and his mouth hanging slightly open. She smiled, "We can have drinks in my room. I don't feel like getting dressed, plus all the files are in my room anyway."

Morgan cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah," he agreed distractedly and followed Garcia back into her room.

Once inside the room, Morgan took a second to take in his surroundings. It was your typical hotel room, however it had a lived-in feel to it. The bathroom door was open and a damp towel hung from the rack while the smell of lilacs floated around the room. Garcia's bag was open with vibrant, colourful clothes were strewn around the room and her bed was still made, although there were files scattered over the top of it and across the desk. He saw Penelope staring at him from the mini bar and slightly flushed at the realization that he had been caught in the act of checking out her temporary living quarters.

"What do you want to drink?" she asked.

"Uh, vodka would be great."

"Same here. Now would you do me a favour?" she asked huskily.

"Maybe," Morgan's voice was unsure of what she was asking.

She stood up with a couple of small bottles of clear liquid and strolled up to him, close enough that he could smell the lilac shampoo that she used. She moved her face within inches of his and seductively inquired, "Yes or no?"

Morgan swallowed, "Yes," he breathed.

Garcia's voice returned to normal and she shoved the ice bucket between them,

"Then take this bucket and get some ice. Maybe that'll help cool you down." _And me too! _she added silently.

Morgan let out a whooping laugh and coolly replied, "Yeah, you wish baby girl!"

-------------------------

Morgan and Penelope cleaned out the mini bar in no time and decided to head down to the hotel bar. She made Morgan wait outside her room as she got dressed and he leaned against the doorframe trying to sort out his feelings for her. _She's a coworker. You can't fall for her. It's not professional. She doesn't even find you attractive. She's pushed you away every time you have made things seriously sexual, so don't push it and make things awkward between the two of you. You can't afford to lose her as a friend!_

Morgan heard a thump from the other side of the door, "Garcia?" he quietly called, aware of the late hour. "Penelope?" Morgan knocked on the door. _Something's wrong,_ he thought. He turned the door knob that was cool in his warm hand and burst through the door to find the computer tech on the floor, laying on her side with her back to him. She shook all over and Morgan's impaired mind made an immediate jump: _she's having a seizure!_ _Roll her onto her back, clear away anything she might hit herself on and put something soft under her head. Stay calm! _He remembered his first aid training, stripped off his shirt and balled it up while he drunkenly ran and dropped to his knees behind her. "It's okay baby, yur gonna be fine. Just try 'n stay calm. I'm not going anywhere," he soothed.

Morgan rolled her onto her back to see her red face and tears running down her cheeks, but she wasn't convulsing; she was laughing so hard that no sound came out. "Penelope? You're laughin'?! What the hell? I thought you were havin' a seizure! Jesus! Don't scare me like that!"

"I-I," she gasped and laughed some more. "I'm sorry, Morgan!" (Giggling) "I was trying to get my shirt on to go downstairs," (gasp) "But I lost my balance and fell," (more giggles) "And couldn't get up!" Garcia's face changed from hysterical laughter to confusion. "Why don't you have a shirt on?" she asked as her eyes snagged on the sight of his washboard abs. _Penelope Garcia! Stop looking at him like he's dessert! You need to be professional or at least act like it. Morgan's a player and he isn't interested in the likes of you!_

"I thought you were havin' a seizure! I needed something to put under yur head!" Morgan slurred. "Besides, yur the one layin' here without a shirt! Not that I mind or anythin'."

Garcia looked down and saw her red lace bra and the blouse in her hand. _I could have sworn I got that on before I fell… _She hiccupped, "I guess I shouldn't have insisted on keeping up with you. You're bigger than me and I can't hold my liquor too well."

"Obviously, but I'm not much better than you right now. I haven't eaten since yesterday. Here," he said reaching for the shirt, "Let me help you with that."

"I don't need help to get dressed. I can do it on my own. I'm a big girl." (Hiccup)

"I know that yur a big girl, but you just fell n' couldn't get up which tells me that ya need some help."

Garcia sighed. She knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to tell him. Instead, she used a sickly sweet voice and cooed, "Why thank you Mr. FBI Profiler! What would a girl do without your assistance?"

"Run around without shirts on," Morgan deadpanned. "On second thought, maybe I shouldn't help you," he laughed at the expression on her face and winked at her.

He took the shirt from her hands and helped her sit up, watching the smooth, silky skin on her stomach. He helped her into her shirt and attempted to button it closed, but his hands wouldn't cooperate with his brain's commands. Every time he thought he had a button done up his hands brushed her skin which caused him to lose his concentration, fumble and ultimately have to start from scratch. _Damn it, Derek! You've had a lot more to drink in the past and you've never had any trouble getting a woman's buttons undone. Get it together!_ Determined, Morgan leaned in closer and tried again.

Morgan's hand brushed her stomach for the fifth time sending tiny shivers of pleasure up and down her spine. _For the amount of work he does with his hands, they're remarkably supple. I expected them to be rougher…Stop it! You're drunk!_ Penelope still couldn't help the way she was feeling and she didn't try to help him; she loved the feeling of his hands touching her. She bit her lower lip to restrain herself from kissing him.

Garica took the opportunity to study Derek Morgan up close without his knowledge. He was concentrating entirely on buttoning the buttons on her blouse; his brow was creased, his lips were slightly parted and even after he had seen the worst mankind had to offer, his eyes still seemed to smile.

Morgan suddenly realized that Garcia had shifted closer; he glanced up and was surprised that her face was so close to his. He could see the golden flecks in her eyes and the pale freckles on her cheeks that he hadn't noticed before. He cautiously brushed his lips against hers expecting her to hit him or push him away, all while hoping that she would return his kiss.

Garcia's lips tingled where his had made contact and she responded without thinking by lightly kissing him. The kiss deepened as Morgan's hand slid up the inside of her blouse and across her stomach. Derek started pushing her to the floor when Penelope flipped him onto his back using one of the moves he had taught her and straddled him. He chuckled and flipped her onto her back using the same the self defense move he had learned a long time ago. The pair shed items of clothing while wrestling for the dominant position until Penelope leaned into Derek and whispered, "Trust me; you'll like it better on your back. Just let go," with that she rolled him and he didn't even try to gain the upper hand.

She moved down his toned torso trailing her hands softly down his muscular abdomen until they reached his black belt. She took it off and tossed it haphazardly behind her; she undid his pants and slid them down to reveal his navy boxers, removing those too.

Penelope smirked at the sight of his erection and took him into her mouth, teasingly slow at first. Derek moaned and dropped his head back onto the carpeted floor as he enjoyed the erotic sensations that were overtaking his body as she did things to him that he had never experienced before; just as he reached his peak he dug his hands into the carpet, arched his back and called out her name.

When he had regained some of his composure he opened his eyes to see her grinning like the Cheshire cat, he cocked one eyebrow and kissed her, "Your turn goddess."

He helped her remove any of the offending articles of clothing that remained and played with her in more mind-blowing ways then she could imagine, just as she was ready to release her orgasm Morgan entered her and she shouted his name as he filled her in every way imaginable; they thrusted frantically until they found their rhythm and moved together like two well choreographed dancers.

The incessant ringing of a phone woke Morgan from his slumber; he fumbled for the phone on the nightstand, "Hello?"

"Morgan?" Came Emily's confused voice.

"Yeah…?"

"Oh I must have called the wrong room, I meant to call Garcia."

"Garcia?" He questioned as he looked behind him to see Penelope starting sleepily at him, "Oh! Yeah, I just uh, came to wake her up. I don't want to be late for the meeting this morning."

"You already are."

"Wh—what?"

"It's eight thirty. We were supposed to leave almost ten minutes ago. We'll be down in ten minutes." Morgan slammed the receiver down as he jumped out of bed, "We're late! We should have left ten minutes ago!" he nearly shouted as he donned his pants and shirt.

"No!" she gasped as she too tumbled out of bed and over to her suitcase, snatching clothes out of her luggage.

"Yes, I'm going to run to my room to grab a change of clothes then I'll come back a pick you up, don't leave until I come and get you!" With that he dashed out the door; not even two seconds later he burst through the door and jogged over to her, "Good morning hot stuff," he greeted with a sinful smile and a brief but passionate kiss before sprinting out the door again.

Six and a half minutes later the two lovers arrived in the lobby to find a very aggravated Emily Prentiss, "Sorry Em, I slept through my alarm," Garcia apologized.

"Whatever, Hotch is going to _kill us_ if we're late. Let's go!"

The ride to the local police department was one of utter silence as both Morgan and Garcia tried to remove Emily from her angered state although they both felt absolutely horrible about their tardiness.

The presentation of the profile went off without a hitch and soon the local LEO's were off to find anyone matching said profile. The federal agents were preparing to leave when Hotch spoke from the empty room, "Reid called this morning and told me that they were removing JJ from the ICU and into a private room where she can recover until she is ready to move home."

"That's great news Hotch," came Garcia's cheery reply.

"Yeah," agreed Emily as her black mood seemed to dissipate at the announcement.

"I'm going to the hospital this afternoon, if that's okay with you Hotch," Garcia questioned.

"I'd prefer you to stay here where you can work."

"I can work at the hospital with my laptop and cell phone just as effectively as if I were here. I'm also going to try and ask JJ what her attacker looked like, but only if she's up to it."

Stunned looks went around the room, "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I can put a sketch together using this new program that I wrote last night and I think she might be more comfortable and willing to talk to me."

"Do it. The rest of you need to help the locals go over any lists that they come up with and eliminate the duds."

"Yes, Sir."

Garcia left the room with her laptop and outside to the vehicle and drove to the hospital with a police escort as per Hotch's instructions. She entered JJ's new room and saw Spencer standing at the window staring outside while JJ picked at the quilt on her bed, completely ignoring the untouched breakfast tray, "Greetings! I brought _real_ food," she said as she held up a tray of coffee and a bag with delicious smell wafting from it.

Spencer turned from the window and shook his head while JJ seemed to have not heard her friend's entrance. "Junior G man, why don't you go to the police department, I'm sure the team could use your help right now. I need some time alone with our favourite blonde."

Spencer looked between the two women until he said, "JJ? Baby, I'm going to go to the police station, unless you want me to stay." She continued to pick at the imagined bits of fluff on the fabric so he kissed her gently on her forehead before motioning to Garcia to come out into the hallway with him.

"She hasn't spoken to me since she found out about the baby," he sadly acknowledged.

"I know, but she needs some time to process everything that has happened. Go and help the team since I'm sure you won't sleep. I'll see what I can do here."

"Thanks Garcia. Watch out for her okay?"

"I always do, but this time I have the muscle to back me up," she laughed as she gestured to the two large men in bland suits. Reid hugged her and walked out of the hallway towards the elevator.

Garcia reentered the room and sat on the edge of JJ's bed, "Hi JJ."

"I don't want to talk," came the reply devoid of emotion.

"Okay. I'm going to be working out of here for today. If you need anything, even a hug or just someone to listen, give me a shout."

JJ nodded and Garcia moved to the chair in the corner of the room and set up shot on a nearby table. The team sent her a multitude of lists of various names and gave her a set of parameters to check for. Nearly three hours later a small voice came from across the room, "He had brown hair, like the colour that flowers turn when they are dying."

"Pardon?" came the slightly confused reply as the tech set her computer to do her work for her as she sat back on the same spot as earlier.

"His hair. It was the brown that flowers turn when they die," she repeated. "His eyes were clear and ice blue, he was about 5'10" and he was of average weight and build."

"Honey, you don't have to do this now if you aren't ready."

"No! I want to find him! He has to pay for this!" she took a moment to calm herself and when she opened her eyes Garcia had her laptop open and was entering the features in as they came. She closed her eyes and willed herself to remember what the animal who killed her child looked like, "He had a thin scar through the middle of his left eyebrow, a regular nose and somewhat thin lips. He was Caucasian and wore a tech outfit with work tattered brown boots; no wedding band and a bit of a receding hair line. He looked like he was in his early to mid forties." She drew a shaky breath, "That's all I remember."

"That's more than enough JJ," she typed more commands into her computer and turned the screen towards her best friend, "Is this him?"

Tears welled in her eyes as she placed a protective hand over her empty stomach, "Yes," she cried.

Garcia quickly sent the sketch to the team and entered it into a facial recognition program before closing the machine and putting it on the edge of the breakfast tray, "Jen?"

JJ's head bowed as tears flowed from her sapphire eyes and splattered over her hands and the quilt, "He killed my baby! Oh Pen, he killed my baby girl!" she sobbed.

"I know sweetheart! I'm so sorry! If there was anything in the world I could do to change it, you know I'd do it in a heartbeat!"

"I just feel so empty in here," she gestured to her stomach, "And here," she motioned to her heart. "It's like I died along with my daughter. I—I don't know how to pick up the pieces and move on."

Penelope caught her up in a hug and she let Jennifer Reid cry as much as she needed, "I know honey! This isn't fair and we _are_ going to catch the man that did this to you and Spencer! I swear we will, if it's the last thing I ever do, okay?"

JJ continued to cry while Penelope gently rocked her back and forth. Penelope listened to everything JJ felt the need to talk about and tried her best to ease her friend's heartache when Spencer waked in the room and froze at the door.

JJ looked up, "Oh baby, I'm so sorry!" she cried out as her face crumpled.

He rushed to her side, "You have nothing to be sorry about my love. I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere!"

Penelope gathered her belongings and left the room, but before she could reach the end of the hallway, her cell phone rang. She didn't bother to check the caller ID, believing it was one of the team, "Hello?"

"Penelope Garcia?" asked an unfamiliar voice.

"Yes, who is this?" she asked apprehensively _no one has this number except people from work! I haven't given this out since after what happened with Battle._

"You and I will meet soon enough if He wills it. Say hello to Mrs. Reid for me, I understand she is very broken up over her…loss," he said before laughing and hanging up. Penelope's blood ran cold.

**Okay, there you have it!! I think that another chapter deserves reviews lol, please click on that little button on the bottom left of your screen! It will make my day!**

**FeistyFeral**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**I'm back! After a semi wild weekend I'm ready to write! Enjoy!**

Penelope removed the cell phone from her ear with trembling fingers and stared at it for a long moment before flipping it open again and hitting #2 on her speed dial.

"Morgan."

"D-Derek?"

"Penelope? What's up baby girl?"

"Y-you n-need to come to the hospital."

"What's wrong? Is JJ okay?"

"Get here _now!_" she whispered as her head began to spin and her vision swam.

"I'm leaving now."

Penelope leaned against the nearest wall and practically dropped everything she was carrying as she slid down the wall and onto the floor.

Derek slammed his phone closed, "Something's wrong, I have to go to the hospital! Stay here and work on these names. Tell Hotch where I'm going!" he almost shouted as he bolted from the room leaving a stunned Emily Prentiss gaping at the closed door for a moment before she ran from the room in search of Hotch.

Morgan could have sworn he broke every traffic law and land speed record as he sped to the hospital with his lights flashing and sirens blaring, on the way he called the security detail and was told that Mr. and Mrs. Reid were alone in the hospital room and hadn't had any visitors after Garcia had left. He skidded to a stop and jumped from the vehicle, sprinting for the stairs. He burst through the doors and began to run to JJ's room when he saw his goddess practically crumpled on the floor with her head in her hands while she struggled to breathe. He dropped to her side, "Hi sweetness."

She launched herself into his arms and almost toppled the handsome agent to the floor. He held her and gently rocked her back and forth until she seemed to be calming down, "What's wrong?"

She looked into his eyes as hers filled with new tears of terror, "He called me."

Derek's panic filled mind didn't make the connection, "Who called?"

"The unsub."

Derek felt like he had been sucker punched, "_What?_" he asked as his eyes began scanning the hallway.

"I-I was leaving JJ's room and my phone rang. I answered it and he called me by my name Derek. _My full name!_"

"What did he say? Can you remember what he said?"

"I'll never forget it as long as I live. He said, 'You and I will meet soon enough if He wills it. Say hello to Mrs. Reid for me, I understand she is very broken up over her…loss.'"

The muscle in Derek's jaw began to twitch as he tried to rein in the rage that was rising within him; he closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths before turning back to Garcia, "We need to get back to the police station and you need to tell Hotch what the unsub said."

"We can't leave! He's going to come back and try to get JJ!"

"No he won't, but if he did there is a security detail here to protect JJ and Reid. I'll call and make sure that more people come to watch over them, but we _need_ to get back and fill in the rest of the team on what just happened. Here," he got to his feet and extended a large hand to the computer tech, pulling her gently to her feet as well. He gathered her computer equipment and handed it to her, "I need you to carry these if you can."

"Okay."

Derek walked slightly in front of Penelope and she noticed his eyes never stopped scanning the room or scrutinizing people. She saw how his body was tense and his had hovered in the vicinity of his service weapon. They exited the building and he hustled her into the car. They drove in silence the whole way back to the police station, but Derek laced his fingers with hers; the simple contact gave her more strength then she could have imagined. He parked the SUV and sat there for a moment before looking over at Garcia, "Are you ready?"

"Yes," came the hushed reply.

They entered the building and made a beeline for the conference room they were using to narrow down their impossibly long list of suspects. Upon entering the room Emily jumped to her feet and made quick work of getting to Penelope's side and pulling her into a hug, Gideon studied the woman for a moment taking in her pale appearance, terrified eyes and shaking hands when she gave him a small wave, Hotch dissected her appearance and behaviour along with Morgan's tense stance, clenched fists and roving eyes, "What happened?" he asked.

Penelope looked to Derek for help before sitting down wordlessly between Hotch and Gideon, "The unsub called Garcia when she was leaving JJ's room."

The silence that met Derek's statement was palpable and the tension in the room rose. Hotch turned to Garcia, "What did he say?"

"'You and I will meet soon enough if He wills it. Say hello to Mrs. Reid for me, I understand she is very broken up over her…loss,'" She recited.

Hotch absently rubbed his stubbly jaw as his eyes closed briefly, "Were those his exact words?"

"Yes Sir."

"Did he say anything else?" Hotch suddenly sounded very tired.

"No Sir. Well…he…he called me by my name. My _full_ name."

"He probably got that from a listing or the internet."

"That shouldn't be possible! After everything that happened with Battle I changed all of my phone numbers and made sure they were all unlisted. It should have been impossible to know who had this phone number!"

"Okay." He thought for a long moment, "We all need to be even more careful then we were before. This man appears to be highly skilled with computers which means we are going to have to change hotels. If any of you have to go anywhere you need to take someone with you; if you are taking a car somewhere you need to take a security or police detail. I spoke with the director earlier and great concern was expressed. The director said that if I needed any backup I should call directly. I will be doing that after this meeting and requesting additional agents to come here from the local field office and help out with protection. _Do not_ go anywhere alone, am I understood?" Nods of acknowledgement passed around the room, "What is it Jason?" he asked noticing his friend's distant look.

"'If He wills it,'" Gideon quoted, "He's referring to God."

"We don't know that," Emily argued.

"Yes we do. This man doesn't have anyone close to him. He had Detler, but we took him away. We know he is a deeply religious man, maybe even a fanatic. The only being I can see the unsub referring to now would be God."

"Gideon's right," Hotch sighed. He took a moment to try and collect his scattered thoughts which was a hard task when you haven't slept more then an hour every night in a week. He rolled his shoulders back in an attempt to remove some of the tension from his tired muscles, "What are our options?"

"We need to keep narrowing our suspect list from JJ's description," Morgan supplied.

"We could narrow our search even more now that we know he has advanced computer skills," offered Emily.

"I can try and trace the call back to a cell phone to get a name or location," volunteered Garcia.

"Those are all good ideas," Hotch acknowledged, "Everyone should work on their own respective ideas and Gideon and I will help out by going through the suspect list and eliminating them one by one. Let's get to work." With that everyone got busy with their tasks while Hotch called the Director and asked for additional assistance, explaining the phone call Garcia had received.

An hour later Garcia approached Hotch, "I've tried everything I can think of to trace the unsub's location, but I'm coming up empty," she sighed, impatience, anger and fear evident in her voice.

"I didn't think it would, but it was worth a try. Thanks Penelope," he said as he sent her a small smile of appreciation.

"No problem. I'm going to run to the washroom; I'll take a female officer with me so I don't interrupt Emily," she said before Hotch had a chance to voice his concerns. She left the room and briefly spoke to a tall brunette before both women headed off to the restrooms.

Morgan's fist hit the table loudly and Emily visibly jumped, Gideon only looked up, "We aren't getting anywhere!"

"We're doing our best," came Gideon's patient reply.

"Our best isn't good enough!"

"Derek," came the warning from Hotch.

"No Hotch! I'm sorry, okay? But right now we are just running in circles! Do you know how many single white men there are in their early to mid forties with brown hair, blue eyes and an average height and build?"

"Too many," he replied.

"Exactly! We could be doing this forever and still never know who _he_ is, but he knows _who_ we are and _where_ we are! We're sitting targets!"

Hotch's eyes were on Derek, but it was like he was seeing straight through him, "What are you thinking Aaron?" asked Gideon.

"I think that Derek's right, this man knows who and where we are but we have no idea who he is." Gideon just waited patiently for him to analyze his latest thoughts. "We need to draw him out."

Derek nodded until all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, "_NO!_ I won't let you use her like that! You saw how much she went though with Battle and how she struggled after to move on after she was shot! You cannot _possibly_ think that that is a real option!"

"Right now it seems like our only viable option, unless you have a better one."

"Use me."

"He won't come after you Derek. He seems to have chosen Garcia as his next victim and if we dangle you in front of him he's going to know we are baiting him."

"If we dangle Penelope in front of him he's going to know something's off!" Morgan argued.

"Not if we plan this right and make sure it goes off without a hitch."

"No! There are too many variables; too many things that could go wrong! I won't let you ask her to do that!"

"You won't _let _me ask her?" Hotch asked as his eyebrows shot to his hairline, "It's not your decision Morgan."

Derek opened his mouth to dispute Hotch's decision when the door opened and the computer tech in question walking into the room and stopped short, "What?" she asked and she looked down to make sure there wasn't toilet paper stuck to the bottom of her shoe. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Hotch slowly stepped forward, "I need to ask you something and I was you to be completely honest with me, okay?"

She saw Hotch's hesitation and looked to Morgan who was standing with his fists clenched and fury blazing in his eyes, "Okay…"

"We aren't getting very far with narrowing our suspect list and I'm concerned that this unsub may try and harm the team again."

"What can I do?"

"I want to try and draw the unsub out."

"Sounds good to me, how are you going to do it?"

Hotch cleared his throat, "We need someone to get his attention; someone he's interested in."

Garcia frowned for a moment until realization dawned on her, "Oh."

"We would have full protection for you and we would try to put as many safeguards into place as humanly possible."

"Okay."

"But you could be in danger and it's also possible that this plan may not even work."

"I'll do it."

"You will?" Hotch asked, clearly shocked.

"Yes."

"Baby girl—"

"Look this man almost killed JJ, he killed her baby and he took away her chance to have another baby! That was my goddaughter that he killed! If there is _anything_ I can do to help catch this son of a bitch then I'll do it."

"Penelope…"

"No Derek! This is something I have to do! If the unsub were interested in you, would you use yourself as bait?"

"Yes I would, but I've had a lot more training with hand-to-hand combat as well as weapons training."

"You taught me a lot of self defense tactics and after what happened with Battle I learned how to use a gun. Don't get me wrong, I _hate_ guns and what they represent, but I feel safer knowing how to use one."

"But I have years of experience in the field!"

"I'm not going to back down from this Derek. I'm sorry if you can't accept that, but I need to do this. I need to do this for Spencer, JJ, their baby girl and the team, but also for myself."

Morgan shook his head in frustration, "I want to be as close to her as possible at all times."

"We all will be there," Hotch confirmed.

"Fine. I don't like this plan one bit, but at the moment it seems like it's our only workable plan. Let's figure out the details."

"Is everyone in on this?" Hotch asked as his eyes swept the room.

"I'm with Morgan on this," Emily sighed, "But let's get this bastard!"

"Jason?"

Gideon thought for a moment before realizing Hotch's plan would be the best way to catch this unsub before he had another chance to hurt or kill one or possibly more members of the team. He nodded.

"Good. Let's get started."

**Okay, it's late and I have to get up in less than 5 hours…my brain has ceased to function. Do any of you wonderful people out there have any suggestions on what the 'plan' should be? I have an idea of what I want to do, but I would love any ideas you would be so kind as to throw my way! I may even incorporate it into my story. Please review! Thanks!!**

**FeistyFeral**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks again for the strong reviews!! Please keep them coming! A special shout out goes to mabelreid for helping me to develop the team's 'plan'! You're too good to me!**

**A/N: I have **_**no idea**_** what the director of the F.B.I.'s gender is, so I'm taking some creative liberty and making the director a woman. ;P**

The team devised a plan that day. It took them almost four hours to devise as many contingency plans as humanly possible. Morgan gave Garcia a brush up lesson on her self defense tactics and also took her to the police firing range for a refresher as well as to verify her previous statement that she had learned how to use a firearm.

Any time they were in public the team was looking over their shoulders and being vigilant of those around them. The unease of each agent was palpable and grew as the hours progressed and day turned to night.

The team decided to call it a night and went back to the hotel in two vehicles as well as an armed escort for each car; apparently the director did not want to take any chances when it came to the team's safety…it also reflected positively on her, especially if there is a press conference if the unsub is caught.

They arrived at the hotel safely and as everyone made to enter the elevator Morgan took Garcia's arm and held her back whispering, "I want to talk to you for a minute."

Hotch entered the elevator last and held the doors open expectantly, "I just have to have a quick word with Garcia and then we'll be right up."

"Have the talk in one of your rooms."

"It will only take a minute."

"Derek—"

"We will be right up," he promised.

Hotch gave a weary sigh before nodding his head and letting the elevator doors slide close.

Penelope looked at him unenthusiastically, "What is it Derek?"

"I just wanted to promise you that I'm going to protect you from this unsub."

"I know," she said quietly as she put her hand on the side of his face.

Morgan covered her hand with his, turned his face and kissed her palm. He closed his eyes for a long moment, relishing her touch and when he opened them they were filled with fury once again, "This isn't right! It should be me risking my life, not you!"

"We aren't going to go over this again."

"Why not?" he snapped.

"Derek," she warned a she looked around and saw people looking at them due to Morgan's raised voice, "People are staring."

"I don't care! Let them stare!"

"Let's go outside**," **she said as she took his hand and directed him outside the hotel. Once out in the cool evening air she released his hand and turned to him, "You need to calm down."

"I can't! I just got you into my life and now I might lose you!"

"The team will protect me."

"We'll try our best, but there aren't any guarantees!"

"This isn't helping, Derek. I'm trying really hard to be brave and this is just making it harder,**" **she cried out as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"I know this isn't helping, but this should be me!"

"Derek," she warned as his words began to grate on her already raw nerves like coarse sandpaper.

"No Penelope! You aren't ready for this!"

"I'm not ready for this?! Do you really have that little faith in me?"

"It's not about faith, it's about skill and training. You aren't prepared!"

"Don't tell me what I'm prepared for!" she shouted as his words stung white hot pain in her heart.

"You can't do this!" He hollered back.

"You can't stop me! I'm doing this! I'm doing it for JJ and Spencer and their poor baby!"

"You're letting this situation cloud your judgment!"

"Exactly! And the moment I stop letting these types of situations bother me is the time I need to quit my job!"

"You aren't listening to me!"

"No! You aren't listening to _me_!" She turned her back on him so he wouldn't be able to see the unrestrained tears coursing down her face.

"Pen," he whispered as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed as she spun on him, "Don't ever touch me again!" She turned her back on his and began to run.

"Penelope!" He called out as he ran to her side.

"Leave me alone! I can't even stand to look at you right now!"

Her words froze Morgan mid stride, his feet seemed rooted in place, "You can't go!" He screamed at her retreating form, "The unsub is still out there and you're giving him a chance to take you too!"

She stopped in her tracks for a moment due to the pain in his voice, "Let him come and get me. Maybe it would be better then to have to deal with this pain. I can't make it stop Derek, these thoughts of mine just keep whirling in my mind and I can't take it anymore!"

Garcia began to run again and Derek sunk to his knees as a strangled sob escaped his lips, "No!" he whispered.

Garcia ran until her lungs were on fire and she thought they were going to burst. She stopped and looked around the alien city and her eyes came to rest on a large church three blocks away. She forced her legs to move and she began to run again. Penelope jogged up the cracked cement stairs, pushed past a heavy oak door and stumbled into the dimly lit building. She was greeted by the smell of candles and wood; she slowly walked up the carpeted middle aisle and sat down at the end of the first pew. She lowered the kneeler, got to her knees, folded her hands and rested her forehead on them.

Penelope prayed the hardest she had ever prayed in her life. She prayed for the team, for JJ, Spencer, Derek, the Reid baby, patience, forgiveness, courage; she prayed for a long time before she sat back and put her head into her hands. She didn't even hear the whispering of shoes on the carpeted aisle, she didn't notice the man standing in the pale light staring at her and he didn't perceive the shake of his head. In fact, the only reason she became aware of him was when he sat down beside her.

Penelope visibly jumped, "I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone else was here."

"That's okay," soothed the stranger.

Garcia scrutinized the mystery man's side profile in the faint light; her heart skipped a beat then began to race as she recognized this man from the sketch she had put together for JJ; she recognized the cold, ice blue eyes and the menace in them. _Oh no! Maybe he doesn't know who I am. May be I can just get up and walk away._

She cleared her throat and began to stand when the man put a hand on her forearm, "I'm just leaving," she whispered as she tried to remove her arm from his hand, but his grip tightened until she cried out.

"I love the peace and serenity of our Lord's house, don't you?"

Garcia's eyes were racing around the room looking for the nearest exit _I'm such an idiot! I should have brought Emily with me! I should have— _Garcia's mental tirade was cut short when the unsub grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, "I asked you a question!" he screamed into her ear as he shoved a revolver to the side of her head.

"Y-yes! I l-lo-love the serenity here!" she stammered uncertainly.

The unsub cocked his head to the side, "Yes Lord."

Garcia frowned until the man painfully dragged her from the pew by her hair, "You think you're so smart don't you?"

"No!"

"Yes, you do! Don't lie to me! You took my protégé and left me alone! Now I'm going to make each and every member of your team suffer! First that pregnant whore who exposed us! Then that kid who outwitted Timmy, who did he think he was?! Now I'm going to make you pay and your team will pay through you and your pain!"

Garcia looked around the empty building praying to hear the words, 'Freeze! F.B.I.!', but it was to no avail. _Where are you Derek?!_

Derek waited on the pavement for a few minutes _eat our heart out you sick bastard!_ He pulled himself to his feet and made a show of staggering into the building. He rode the elevator up one floor before exiting and running into the stairwell and down the flight of stairs. The team was waiting at the bottom and Hotch handed Derek his Kevlar vest, "How did it go?"

Derek strapped the vest on, "It went. Let's move! Who has eyes on Garcia?" He shouted into his radio as the team ran from the kitchen doors and into the waiting SUV's.

A female voice crackled over the airwaves, "She just entered the church. No one has come or left since we arrived except Penelope Garcia."

The SUV rocketed away from the curb with a screech from the tires. They drove the ten blocks to the church, shutting off the flashing lights and silencing their sirens as they drew near. They waited in the vehicles for a few minutes, "Maybe this isn't going to work," stated Emily. "He may not have seen Derek and Penelope's performance."

"No, he saw it," came Gideon's voice from the front passenger side.

"Let's hope he did."

The team waited and surveyed the grounds, but no one entered the church. In fact, the street was deserted and quiet. It was beginning to wear on Derek's nerves, "I don't like this. It's too quiet!"

"He'll come," affirmed Hotch although he wasn't nearly as sure as his voice.

More time slithered by, "Do we have a visual of Garcia?" Derek asked into his radio.

"Negative on the north side of the building."

"Negative on the south side."

"Negative on the east."

"Shit. This isn't good."

Hotch thought for a moment, but he knew in his gut, "I don't like this, it's been too long. Let's move in!"

The command was radioed out to all the units and they made their unified entrance.

Garcia was pulled to a wall with wooden paneling in the basement and the unsub pulled out a hidden door, "I bet you didn't know that the church had this door here. It's actually rather handy for entering and exiting without anyone noticing." _Shit!_

As she was pulled through the hidden doorway she heard running footsteps pounding overhead and radios crackling _they're here!_

"Penelope?" Derek called out as he ran up the middle aisle, his heart rate rising with every step that he couldn't see her.

Penelope heard Derek call her name and her heart fluttered despite the dire situation.

Morgan saw Penelope's lime green purse with its contents spilled on the first pew, "Baby girl? Answer me! Where are you?!"

"Derek!" she screamed as the unsub cracked the butt of the revolver on the base of her neck and she fell into darkness.

Derek froze in his place, "Shut up!" he bellowed and listened intently. _I could have sworn I heard her call my name!_ Everyone stood stalk still and listened.

An elderly, burly priest entered the room, saw the federal and local agents and clenched his fists, "This is a house of God! Whatever you are doing here will cease this moment! Your weapons are not welcome here!"

Hotch faced the man, "I understand your position Father and I wouldn't have allowed this to happen under ordinary circumstances, but one of our agents is missing and there is a very dangerous man here. We believe that he may have taken her, is there any way out of here that we don't know about?"

The priest studied the man as an older Caucasian man, a younger Caucasian woman and an African American male gathered around. He saw their weary, fear filled eyes and recognized that this was not only a colleague, but a dear friend of theirs, "Not that I can thi—wait a minute." The man thought for a moment before hustling away, "Follow me!"

He led the team to the rectory then to his personal office, he hastily opened a filing cabinet and rifled through the contents, "Here!" He spread out an architectural scroll and studied it for a moment. The small room was even more crowded as the team bumped and jostled each other in order to get a better view of the drawing. "This is it! There should be a door here," he said while pointing to a section of wall in the basement of the building, "but I haven't seen anything when I'm down there. It was probably built over or sealed after the war. It was used for—"

"Father!" Derek snapped, "There is a woman's life at risk. I'm sorry, but can we please skip the history lesson? Where does that door lead to?"

"Of course young man, that door leads to an underground tunnel, but I don't know where it goes. There have been rumours, but nothing substantial."

"Let's go!" Hotch called as the team rushed from the room. Hotch turned, "Thank you Father. I apologize for the intrusion and I will be back to explain it to you in greater detail when I know my agent is safe." He left the room at a run to catch up with the team.

Everyone was waiting for instruction and Derek was chomping at the bit. Hotch ran into the room, "There's a tunnel in the basement, but the parish priest doesn't know where it leads. I want three officers to remain up here, four agents to take the perimeter and the rest of us will go into the passage way."

The assignment agents and officers went to their designated locations and waited to hear from the group that went into the basement.

The unsub dragged Garcia through the darkened, musky passageway. It was pitch black, but he knew this area like the back of his hand. He picked up his pace _that stupid bitch! How dare she call out to her 'friends'?! Now they will know about my passageway! I'm going to have to make her pay!_ He paused for a brief moment, _Yes Lord,_ he answered in his mind, _I know what I have to do and I will do it because You wish it to be done. She will not get away with this sin!_ He came to the end of the passageway, opened the door and looked out onto the street. It had begun to drizzle which made it quiet and fairly deserted, in other words, it was perfect. He picked up the unconscious woman and dropped her into the trunk of his waiting car before entering the driver's side, starting the engine and driving away into the night.

The team arrived in the church's basement and saw the gaping entrance into the ominous looking tunnel. Derek removed his flashlight and braced his gun on top of the hand holding the source of illumination, "Ready?"

"Go!" Hotch commanded.

They entered the tunnel that was completely devoid of light and made quick work oh running through it, coming out onto the street. Derek dropped to one knee and motioned to the fairly dry patch of asphalt, "He has a car."

Hotch nodded, pulled his cell phone from his pocket and strode away.

Derek stood and holstered his service weapon along with his flashlight, trying his best not to punch something. Emily appeared at his left, "We'll find her."

"You don't know that."

"I have faith."

"I don't."

"You'll have to take my word on it then."

"I'll believe you when we find Penelope and this bastard is dead or in custody."

**Another chapter finished. What did you think? Should the team find Garcia before the unsub hurts (or possibly even kills) her? Did you like the 'plan'? The more feedback the better! Thanks for taking the time to read (and hopefully) review!**

**FeistyFeral**


	12. Chapter 12

11

**Here's the next chapter!**

**I also realized that I didn't have a disclaimer in my last chapter so here it goes: I own **_**nothing**_** whatsoever so please don't sue me! It's really not worth your time, energy or money. **

The unsub looked down on the unconscious woman as he lay her on a bed in his basement. _She is beautiful, I see why Agent Morgan fancies her…maybe I should videotape me taking her and making her mine. Then I could send it to Derek Morgan and watch the fallout…_ The man grinned as his eyes fell on the breathtaking flower pin above Garcia's left breast. It was rather large, about the size of a silver dollar, but it had bright pink petals and a black jeweled centre _I like that…maybe I'll take that as a souvenir when I am finished with her._

The drizzle had turned into a steady downpour within fifteen minutes of emerging from the inky tunnel. Each raindrop that splattered on the pavement seemed to push each member of the team closer and closer to the edge. Morgan was pacing the sidewalk like a caged panther; Gideon approached him, "Morgan?"

He spun around, "What?"

"You need to decompress. Go and get something to eat and take Emily with you."

"I'm not leaving until we find Garcia and this sick son of a bitch!"

"I understand that you don't want to leave right now but if you don't go and calm yourself down you're going to snap and do something that will force Hotch to make you sit this one out. No one wants that to happen, so go take a walk."

Morgan stood toe-to-toe with Gideon before deeply sighing, "Prentiss?" he called out while maintaining eye contact with Gideon.

"Yeah?" she asked while moving away from the entrance to the passageway.

"We're going for a walk."

"Okay…" she replied hesitantly while also looking at Gideon.

"Call me if anything comes up. We won't be far."

"I will," the older man promised.

Emily and Morgan took off into the night to walk around the perimeter of the church, not bothering to try and find an umbrella, they were already soaking wet.

Gideon entered the church again and found Hotch standing by one of the emergency exits whispering in harsh tones into his cell phone. He slapped the mobile device closed and rubbed a hand over his face.

"What's up?"

Hotch sighed, "I'm beginning to think this plan wasn't a good idea."

"Hindsight is always 20/20."

"Yeah, I have the tech from the local field office working on setting up a trace to find Garcia, but we still don't have a name or anything to do until we get a location."

"Where is that tech?"

"Why Jason? Are you going to show him how to work his computer more efficiently with your advanced training and skills?"

They both laughed out loud at the thought of Jason Gideon, profiler extraordinaire, trying to work a computer at the level of a trained technician. It seemed about as likely as Morgan putting on a frilly pink tutu and prancing around the bullpen.

"No, I want to get a copy of the sketch we have of the unsub."

"I have one on me," Hotch replied as he reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a folded paper.

"Thanks, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Gideon strode down then centre aisle and retraced his steps back to the rectory. He entered the area slowly looking for the parish priest. He found the man sitting behind the nondescript desk in his office; just where they had left him. Gideon knocked softly on the door, "Father?"

The elderly man looked up, slightly startled, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before, I'm Jason Gideon a member of the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the F.B.I."

"That's quite a mouthful. I'm Father O'Connor."

Gideon laughed, "Yes it is. I wanted to apologize for our behaviour as a group earlier."

"It was rather," the priest seemed to search for the word, "Abrasive."

Gideon smiled, "I'm sorry for that, but we have been looking for a man who murdered four women over the past two months. They were found in warehouses and building under construction," he prompted.

The priest's back suddenly straightened, "I remember hearing about those murders on the news and praying for their souls."

"Yes well the team was called in to help solve these murders before any more lives were lost. We found one of the men before he was able to kill a fifth woman, but the second unknown subject planted a bomb and blew up a surveillance van with one of the members of my team as well as a technician."

The priest gasped, "Were they okay?"

"The tech died. The woman from my team was five and a half months pregnant; she survived, but her daughter did not make it."

The colour in the priest's face drained as he lowered his head into his hands for a moment before looking back up with tears glistening in his eyes, "I'm so sorry. That must have been very hard on all of you."

"Yes it was, but her husband is on the team as well. He was there when it happened."

What little colour that was left in the man's face drained completely. He was speechless.

"I'm not saying this to shock you Father, I just want you to see the whole picture here. The suspect called another member of the team, Penelope Garcia, and basically said he was coming for her next. We set up a trap to capture this man, but he eluded us and kidnapped her. We don't know what kind of shape she is in or if she's even alive."

"I don't understand how I can be of service to you."

"This man knew about the secret passageway in the basement. I believe he is a regular member of your congregation."

"No!" Father O'Connor exclaimed in disbelief.

"Here is a picture of the suspect from the agent who lost her child. Will you please take a look at it and tell me if you recognize him?"

"I'll do my best."

Gideon handed the paper over to Father O'Connor and watched the man's face intently, but it wasn't necessary. The priest gaped at the picture for a moment before sagging back into his chair and closing his eyes.

"You know that man?"

"That's Dillon Sanders. He used to be a sporadic member of the congregation for a long time until about a year ago when he began to come to church every Sunday. About five months ago he began coming to church everyday."

Gideon nodded, "Thank you for all of your help Father."

"I just don't know where I went wrong. When Dillon began coming to church regularly I encouraged it. I didn't know!"

"Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, 'All human beings…are commingled out of good and evil.' I believe it's the truth and that each individual has a choice to make: do they do good work that is almost always difficult or do they do evil work that is easy and pleasurable?"

Father O'Connor sighed, "That is true, but I am here to guide my flock away from evil, it appears I have failed miserably in the case of Dillon Sanders."

"The only thing that matters is that you guide the majority of your flock away from evil. They will be tempted, but you need to help them seek out the good and not the evil. I believe that you have done an exceptional job."

"Thank you Agent Gideon."

He smiled sadly at this man, "I'm going to give you my card. If you ever need anything please don't hesitate to give me a call." He took out one of his business cards and wrote a number on the back, "That's my cell phone number, my phone is never off and it's never too late to call." He placed the card on the desk, "Thank you for all of your help Father."

Father O'Connor started at the card for a long time before inserting it into his Rolodex and beginning to pray for Penelope Garcia's safe return, the souls of the lives lost in this bloodbath as well as for Dillon Sanders' soul.

"How are you doing with that trace?" Hotch asked the tech who looked like he had just graduated high school.

"T-there's been a bit of a problem with the signal S-Sir," the young man stuttered.

"What kind of problem?" Hotch asked.

"The signal is weak, like she's underground which means I'm h-having a hard time pinpointing her location. I'm working as best I can," he explained as he wiped his sweaty palms against his thighs.

"Okay, call me the second you find her. Call me even if you can pinpoint her location down to a neighbourhood, understood?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Thank you," he said as he took a few steps away from the tech; his very presence seemed to fluster the young man to the point of slowing down his efficiency.

Morgan rolled his shoulders to try and get rid of some of the tension that was plaguing him, "We should be in there working, not strolling around the perimeter of a church!" he growled.

"Gideon had a point. You need to blow off some steam or you're going to do something stupid and get kicked off the case."

Morgan glared at her, although its effect was lost in the near total blackness surrounding them. He radiated anger and pain for a few more minutes before letting his shoulder droop and sitting down on the base of a statue of St. Anthony of Padua, "I'm just losing faith in the system Emily."

"I know, but I've got enough faith for the both of us. We _will_ find Penelope soon; you just have to trust those around you."

"Yeah, I've heard all of that before."

"From who?"

"Penelope."

Emily smiled, "I was doing my best imitation of her."

Morgan smiled, "Thanks Em."

"No problem." She looked up and laughed, "I think it's a sign."

"Huh?"

"We're sitting under St. Anthony of Padua; he's the patron saint of lost items and missing people."

Morgan followed Emily's eye line and chuckled, "Let's go inside and see what Hotch and Gideon have come up with."

"Are you sure? We could always wait until we catch pneumonia," she suggested sarcastically.

"You should really quit your job and become a stand up comic," Morgan deadpanned.

The two bantered until the reached the doors of the church and fell silent; both teammates putting their game faces back on. Emily entered first, dipping her fingers into the shallow bowl of holy water and making the sign of the cross, Morgan just entered the church as if it were any other building.

The two younger agents quickly found Hotch, "Anything?" Emily asked.

"Not yet. The pin she is wearing is giving out a weak signal that is making it hard to pinpoint her exact location."

"Where's Gideon?" Morgan asked surveying the church.

"He disappeared a little while ago with the sketch of the unsub."

"Where did he go?" Emily inquired.

"It looked like he was going to the rectory."

"Why would he go back there?" Morgan wondered out loud.

"Dillon Sanders!" Gideon called out as he jogged from the rectory.

"Who?"

"Dillon Sanders! He's the unsub! Father O'Connor recognized him and he fits the profile to a tee!"

"Are you sure?" Hotch questioned, almost unwilling to let his hopes rise only to crash again.

"I'm positive. Father O'Connor had no doubt in his mind who this was," he said as he flashed the sketch that had been permanently ingrained in each team member's memory.

Hotch spun on his heel and strode to the young tech, "Dillon Sanders; I need everything you can find on him. I don't care how you find the information, what laws you have to break or how you feel about getting this information. All I care about is that you get this information as soon as possible and that it is accurate. Am I clear?"

The tech gulped, "Crystal."

"Finally!" Morgan whooped.

Garcia struggled to escape the dark abyss that kept trying to claim her. She cracked open her eyes and cried out at the white hot pain radiating from the base of her skull. She tentatively reached back and probed the area, bringing more pain and blood on her fingertips. "Crap."

She shot straight up in the bed she found herself in until her world of captivity began to spin out of control. He mind flashed back to when she was five and her parents had taken her to the county fare. After a large lunch she had insisted that she was ready to ride the tilt-a-whirl, even though she was known to suffer from motion sickness. She lost her lunch then just as she did in a strange cage all those years later.

Garcia swung her legs over the side of the bed and put her head between her legs, ignoring the pain in her head. After a few minutes she didn't feel as if the room were spinning with such ferocity. She opened her eyes and took a few calming breaths, glanced down and saw her flower pin. Her breath whooshed from her lungs with such force that she was somewhat surprised that the walls were still standing. Tears of relief sprung to her eyes as she realized that the team would be pinpointing her location at that exact moment, if they weren't already on their way.

Her relief was shattered as a door on the far side of the room opened and JJ's sketch jumped to life and walked through it. "You're finally awake."

"This is taking too long!" Morgan growled nearly fifteen minutes later as the computer tech shouted, "I've got it!"

Instantly the team was crowding around the small laptop, leaving the tech feeling claustrophobic. He brought up the abbreviated information on his screen. The team read the information:

Name: Sanders, Dillon James

Date of birth: December 25, 1971

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 186 lbs

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Blue

Job Description: General Construction

Education: Completed grade 11

Spouse: None

Children: None

Parents: Deceased

The team scanned the screen for the seemingly most important piece of information in their lives:

Residence: 5426 Pleasant Ave. Somerville, Boston, USA

The laptop beeped and the tech's fingers flew across the screen. A map appeared on the screen and another soon followed and overlapped the first, "There!"

"What?!" Morgan and Prentiss asked at the same time.

"I still can't pinpoint the location of Penelope Garcia's pin, but it is coming from the same general area as where Sanders resides."

The team met each other's eyes and they all recognized the same thing: hope.

"Let's go!" shouted Hotch as he whipped out his cell phone and called the Director while Emily relayed the information over the handheld radio. Everyone scrambled into action as they snatched their vests from where they had been discarded and ran to the waiting SUV's.

"Hold on baby girl! We're on the way," Morgan whispered into the night as he jumped into the backseat of a black vehicle as it rocketed away from the curb.

"Who are you?" she asked as she unsuccessfully tried to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"I am the Archangel Michael."

"Excuse me?" The question popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"_I am the Archangel Michael,_" he repeated as if she were developmentally delayed.

"My religion is a bit rusty. Aren't you missing wings?"

The unsub's temper flared as his eyes blazed, "Are you mocking me?!" he screamed.

"N-no!"

He laughed, "Clearly you have fallen from the grace of the Lord. St. Michael is the commander of the Army of God."

"I see."

"As the leader of God's Army I have chosen _you_ to carry the child that will rule on my right side."

"To carry your _what?!_" came the shocked reply.

"To carry my child; it is a privilege. You should be honoured."

"I think you—" Garcia paused and decided to try and bide her time until the team could come and save her. "I think I would need to know you a bit better before I carry your…_our_ child."

The unsub seemed to consider this for a few moments, "I understand Father."

Garicia's mind flashed to a scene from _Braveheart_ when Stephen the Irishman joins William Wallace's cause and says "_All right, Father, I'll ask him_," and Hamish asks, "_Is your father a ghost, or do you converse with the Almighty?_"

Somehow, that line seemed to fit her situation rather well, but she valued her life and didn't want to do anything to further upset the unbalanced man.

"The Lord says there is no time. Take off your clothes."

"_What?_"

"_Remove your clothes_," he emphasized as he removed his belt.

"No," she exclaimed as she crossed her hands protectively over her chest.

"Take your clothes off," he ground out as he advanced on Garcia and cracked his belt across her face, "Now!"

Penelope brought her hand up and used the back of it to wipe off the blood from her cheek where the buckle had split the skin. Tears stung in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall; she wouldn't give this unsub the satisfaction…until she heard his zipper lower. The sound rang with such finality that her emotional floodgates burst as tears coursed down her cheeks in realization of what was going to happen next.

**The response from the last chapter was pretty strong, so I figured I'd post this one that I just finished as a bit of a reward. I hope you like it!! As always, please read and review! It makes me much more motivated to hear what you think about the latest installment and what you liked/disliked/want to happen, etc. Thanks!!**

**FeistyFeral**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Disclaimer: I don't control the wind, I don't know rocket science and I don't own Criminal Minds, its characters, etc…The only things I do own are the things you don't recognize .**

**Thanks to a prompt from Leigh59, I had the motivation to finish this chapter. It's longer then all of the others, but it was a struggle for me to write. I'm sorry for the long wait! Thanks for sticking with this story!**

The sleek, black vehicles carrying the law enforcement agents sped through the night in a race against time…

_Oh God! He's going to rape me! He's going to rape me! He's going to rape me!_ The frantic mantra raced through Garcia's mind at the speed of light. She shook all over and seemed unable to move; her sliced cheek didn't even hurt anymore as blood oozed through the fingers of her right hand, down her wrist to her elbow and dripped onto her shirt; staining it.

Dillon Sanders put the belt down, but kept it within easy reach in case his captive decided to become defiant; he would beat it out of her if necessary.

Garcia felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room and she was slowly suffocating. While Sanders' attention was elsewhere she scrambled to her feet before her world began to swirl and her legs began to feel as if they had been shot up with Novocain. She took all of four unsteady steps towards the door he had entered through before she fell flat on her face. Sanders' let out a roar as he snatched the belt from the bed and advanced on the fallen computer tech; Garcia couldn't see him, but she could hear his scream, the pounding footsteps and the crack of leather as snapped it taut. Before she could process any of this further white hot pain exploded across her back and she screamed in agony.

"Get up!" he commanded.

Garcia's mind was reeling so much that she couldn't have complied at that moment, even if she had wanted to.

"Fine!" he screamed in her face as he lifted her from the floor by the back of her shirt, choking her until the garment began to tear; the sound filling the small space. He tossed Penelope unceremoniously onto the bed, stood over her and unbuckled the button on his jeans. Sanders left his pants open in favour of stripping his shirt slowly, emphasizing his muscular torso and arms.

When Garcia saw Sanders grasp the bottom of his shirt through her haze of tears and fear and something snapped from deep within her soul. As soon as the shirt was passing over his face she swung her legs over the side of the bed, aimed her foot at his groin and kicked with every fiber of her being. Sanders screeched and fell into the fetal position on the floor, Penelope didn't think twice before kicking him in the ribs and running for the door, even though it was more staggering than actual running.

She fell heavily against the door, grabbed the doorknob and yanked; nothing happened. Sanders used the bed as leverage to pull himself to his feet and took a long moment to regulate his breathing before sneering at Garcia and laughing: it was the ugliest sounds she had ever heard and made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"You know, I consider myself a man of God. In fact, I'm an archangel. That is why I haven't been violent—"

"'Haven't been violent'?!" Penelope exploded. "You blew up the van carrying one of my best friends! You nearly killed her and you _did_ killed her child; my _godchild_.How dare you call yourself a man of God when all you do is go around killing innocent women and you tried to kill my friends! You are most certainly _not_ a man of God!" she screamed.

"Who are you to judge me?!" he yelled back with just as much ferocity, advancing on her. "I was doing God's work! Don't you see? Those _whores _don't count! As for your 'friend', she captured my _only_ friend! My apprentice! That _bitch_ deserves whatever comes her way!" he spat those last words out in distaste.

"You disgust me!" the tech snarled.

"Unfortunately for you," Sanders laughed, "I have run out of patience, which means you won't live long enough to regret your words or to see your friends die horrific deaths." He suddenly stopped laughing and placed Garcia in a choke hold, tightening both of his hands around her neck.

She clawed at his hands and forearms with her fuchsia fingernails but to no avail. Black dots danced in her vision, her lungs burned and it looked like she was seeing the unsub through a long, dark tunnel. _This is it. I'm going to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die!_

The sirens were silenced and the lights were extinguished four blocks away from their destination in order to retain the element of surprise. They parked one street over from their target; radios were activated, vests were strapped on and weapons were checked and rechecked.

The moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived as Hotch climbed out of the vehicle followed by the remainder of his team, S.W.A.T. members, other Federal agents and the local law enforcement officers.

"I want Prentiss, Gideon and half of the S.W.A.T. team to breach the back. Morgan, take the front door; I'll be behind you along with the remaining S.W.A.T. members. I want the rest of you," Hotch motioned around at the various agents and police officers, "To take control of the perimeter and make absolutely sure that there is _no alternative way out_ like back at the church. If there are extra personnel I want them inside the house after we have cleared each room. I don't want these extra people to be on the entry team because it could become too chaotic. Does everyone know where they are going?"

A chorus of nods, thumbs up and "Yes Sir's" passed amongst the group, "Good. Is EMS here?" Hotch asked as he looked around.

"They're here," said a local LEO as he pointed behind Hotch.

"Good. Let's move!" He declared as everyone scrambled for their respective vehicles in relative excitement and anticipation.

The team got into one of the SUV's and Hotch started the engine, halfway to their target Emily spoke in a frantic voice, "Pull the car over!"

Hotch swerved to the right and Emily bolted from the vehicle and vomited into a nearby hedge. When she was finished she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and rested for a moment with her eyes closed and her hands on her knees.

Morgan moved to get out of the car, but Gideon said, "I'll go." He exited and walked over to the ill agent, "Are you okay?" He asked as he put a hand between her shoulder blades.

"Yeah, I think dinner didn't agree with me."

"You didn't eat dinner," Gideon observed.

"Sometimes I hate working with profilers."

Gideon smiled, "When was the last time you slept?"

"Two days ago," Emily lied.

"Two days ago?" Gideon repeated with raised eyebrows.

"Okay! I haven't slept more than three hours since JJ was hurt," she finally admitted, "But no one on the team has gotten much sleep."

"When was the last time you ate?"

Emily stood up and rolled her shoulders back, "This really isn't the time to talk about this."

"When was the last time you ate?" Gideon repeated again.

Prentiss let out a frustrated sigh, "I ate breakfast yesterday morning."

"When we get Garcia back you need to eat a good meal then sleep for as long as you can. You're just exhausted."

"As soon as Garcia is safe and we have this unsub I'll do both of those things. Let's go." Together both agents re-entered the vehicle. Emily noticed the concerned looks, "I'm fine. Let's go and get Garcia."

The rest of the trip was uneventful and soon the pulled up four houses down from the unsub's house. Everyone exited their vehicles, drew their weapons and made their way to their respective destinations.

"Is everyone in position?" Hotch asked as he spoke quietly into his radio. Affirmative answers were received and the order was given to breach the house.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die!_ The terrified mantra raced through Garcia's mind as her vision began to dim. Her mind flashed to Derek's after they had made love, while he was sleeping and she felt rage fill every cell in her body. _I am NOT going to die! Not here! Not now! _With every remaining ounce of strength she put both of her arms straight up in the air and turned her body as quickly as she could in her weakened state. The self defense tactic Derek had taught her worked and Sanders' hands lost their iron grip around her throat; Garcia fell against the wall gasping and coughing violently.

Her lungs filled with the desperately needed oxygen and the blackness receded from her vision. Garcia never took her eyes off of her captor, a lesson she learned from Derek.

"_Remember baby girl; if you are ever attacked don't take your gorgeous eyes off of him for a second."_

"_What if I'm running away?" she asked, joking slightly._

"_Then make sure you are out of his reach before you take your eyes off of him. Once you turn your back to him you are going to be especially vulnerable."_

"_Yes Sir!" she barked as she marked off a mock salute to her instructor._

"_Don't 'yes Sir' me Penelope. I'm serious. This information could save your life."_

"_Uh huh," she laughed as she rolled her eyes._

_Morgan groaned inwardly, "As I was saying, never take your eyes off your assailant. This way you will know where he is and what he's doing at all times. Plus, you'll have the advantage over him."_

"_What advantage?" she asked, clearly puzzled, "I'm being __attacked__! I'm not playing chess."_

"_I know you aren't playing chess!" he exclaimed in exasperation._

_Garcia bit her lower lip, "I'm sorry Derek; it's just way too much fun to ruffle your feathers!"_

_Derek took a long look at his goddess in black sweat pants and a multicoloured t-shirt; her eyes were glittering with mischief and dancing with laughter. Her shoulder shook in silent laughter that was making her face red from the effort of holding it in and her hair was mussed from all the practice maneuvers they had been doing—she had never looked sexier to him._

"_This is ground control to Major Tom," she laughed, "Major Tom, come in please!"_

"_What? Oh. Umm," Derek struggled to remember what he had been saying. "Right, your advantage over your assailant comes from paying very close attention to his body language. If he tenses then he is preparing for an attack and if he looks to his left then he's thinking about going to his left. Do you know what I mean?"_

_Penelope regarded Derek for a moment before scrubbing her hands over her face, "Yeah…" she sighed before she threw herself through the air and tackled Morgan to the floor._

_Derek let out a grunt as he fell to the ground followed by full belly laugher, "That's very good baby girl, I didn't see that one coming."_

"_That's because I'm brilliant!" she laughed as she grinned down at him, "Now say I won."_

"_You didn't win! That was a cheap shot!" Derek protested as he folded his muscular arms behind his head._

"_Suit yourself," she smirked evilly before letting her fingers lightly feather down his sides._

_Derek jumped and laughed, "That's cheating!" he laughed hysterically, squirming against the mat._

"_Say it!" she whispered while continuing to tickle him._

"_You win!" he laughed, snorting loudly._

She blinked and when her eyes opened again she noticed that Sanders was looking at her right. His body tensed and Penelope dove to the left at the exact same moment that he dove to her right. He crashed into the door and Garcia took advantage of his moment of disorientation and snatched the belt from his hand while he shook his head.

"You will regret that Jezebel!" Sanders hissed as he rose and took a step away from the door, "I'm going to actually enjoy killing you; I'm going to make it the slowest and most painful thing you have ever experienced! I will make it worse than your worst nightmares!"

Derek kicked in the front door and deftly cleared the room before motioning to Hotch he was going to take the kitchen. Hotch nodded and motioned frantically; directing S.W.A.T. to search the various other room. The main floor was cleared and S.W.A.T. moved upstairs to clear that floor.

Derek was preparing to leave the kitchen when he dropped his Mag Lite on the floor, "Damn it!" he muttered under his breath. He knelt down, reached for his flashlight and felt a cool breeze brush against his skin. He was about to grab his light and help S.W.A.T. clear the rest of the house, but he heard a muted thump coming from the southeast wall.

His gun was immediately drawn and aimed at the wall of cupboards; he slunk over to the wall and put his left hand out in front of him, feeling for the cool breeze again. Morgan got onto his hands and knees and finally felt what he was looking for: a soft breeze against his fingertips.

He got to his feet and tugged on the cupboard doors, they revealed a pantry full of various canned goods. He took a hold of a shelf and gave it an experimental tug; a click was audible and the shelving unit swung away from the wall on silent hinges. Derek stuck his head in and listened intently.

"_You will regret that Jezebel! I'm going to actually enjoy killing you; I'm going to make it the slowest and most painful thing you have ever experienced! I will make it worse than your worst nightmares!"_

Upon hearing those words, something snapped in Morgan as he stealthily snuck down the stairs not making even the slightest of sounds. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw two doors that sat side by side. He crept up to the first one and put his ear up against it, he heard a muttered curse from his goddess, but it wasn't coming from behind that door. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere within the next room.

Derek balanced his weight before kicking the door with all his might; it flew open and crashed against the opposite wall, "F.B.I.! FREEZE!" Derek screamed, aiming his weapon at the unsub's head.

Sanders spun around and faced Derek, "Ah! Your lover has decided to come and play the white knight." He paused, thinking, "I guess black knight would be more appropriate," he laughed.

"Move a muscle! Do it! I dare you! That way I get to be the one to put a bullet in your hollow head!" he urged.

"I'm not stupid Agent Morgan, I'm going to surrender peacefully," he got onto his knees and put his hands behind his head. It was at that moment that Derek saw Sanders state of undress, Garcia's ripped shirt and her bruised and cut face.

Morgan stood there for a moment, trying to quell the explosion of emotions that were threatening to overtake him. He moved behind the unsub and holstered his weapon. As Derek locked the first handcuff around the unsub's wrist Garcia screamed, "DEREK!"

Morgan glanced up only to note that she was staring at the unsub. He moved to withdraw his firearm when Sanders spun around with a knife and swung it in the direction of Derek's neck.

Derek leaned backwards and the razor sharp weapon missed his neck, but he could feel the breeze from it. The unsub jumped to his feet and brought the knife down in a stabbing motion; Derek crossed his arms at the wrist and raised them into the air; successfully stopping the downward swing. He grabbed the unsub's wrist and spun around, throwing him over his shoulder and onto the concrete ground as the knife skittered across the floor and into the shadows.

Sanders kicked at Morgan's knee and the handsome agent hit the floor with a thud before the unsub climbed on top of him and began to punch Derek in the face. Morgan took one sharp blow to the left side of his jaw before he reversed their positions and began to pummel the despicable man. After the fourth blow he stopped seeing red and realized what he was doing. He got to his feet, drew his weapon and stood a safe distance from the unsub. He slowly removed his radio with his left hand and rose it to his mouth; never removing the aim of his weapon from Sanders, "Hotch, I've got him in the basement. Garcia needs a medic and I need some backup."

There wasn't time for an answer as Emily burst through the door with her weapon drawn. Upon seeing Morgan with his weapon on a bleeding Sanders she holstered hers and ran over to Garcia quickly enveloping her in a huge hug.

Gideon was the next to run into the room; he took a moment to survey his surroundings before approaching Derek and aiming his weapon at the unsub, "I've got him."

Hotch sprinted though the door, slightly out of breath, "I was in the attic," he breathed while looking at Garcia, relief flooding his face before aiming his weapon at the unsub.

Morgan lowered his weapon, holstered it and took off his jacket as he strode over to his lover, "Baby girl…"

She looked over Emily's shoulder and her face crumpled, Derek gently grabbed her up in a soft hug; he held her while she briefly cried. Once she seemed to have calmed down he wrapped his jacket around her and she lifted the collar to her face and inhaled his intoxicating scent; her eyes closing in pleasure.

"Penelope?"

She looked up, but couldn't answer due to the rather large lump that suddenly made breathing difficult.

"Come here. Let me look at your face," he said as he held out a hand.

With downcast eyes she took his hand and stepped more into the light. Derek winced when he saw her split cheek and the bruise blooming there; something red hot stirred deep within his stomach and spread throughout his entire body until it was practically humming with that energy. "Emily?" he called out, never taking his eyes from Garcia.

"Yeah?"

"Take Penelope out to the ambulance, but wait for me to get out there before they take her to the hospital, okay?"

"Okay," she said uncertainly, wondering why he wasn't taking Garcia himself. She took her friend's hand and led her from the room.

Derek waited until they two women had left the room before he spun on his heel and strode over the where Hotch was putting handcuffs on the unsub. A resounding clicking was heard in the room, "Hey! That's too tight! You're going to cut off my circulation and I think I have a broken wrist!" the unsub screamed.

"I'm sorry," Hotch apologized, "Is this better?" he asked as he tightened them even more. The unsub cried out in response, "This is police brutality!"

Hotch turned to Gideon, "Morgan found the unsub, I think we should let him bring him outside." He turned to Morgan and said, "We're going to go outside and wait for you to bring him out."

Morgan took a moment to study the team leader's face before getting his drift, "Thanks Hotch."

"Let's go Jason." The two senior agents left the room, speaking in hushed tones.

The unsub looked up at Derek, "You can't hurt me! I'm doing God's work!"

"How does killing four people and a baby qualify as doing God's work?! How does almost killing one of my closest friends count as doing God's work?! How does kidnapping Penelope and almost raping her add up to God's work?!" he yelled.

"She was supposed to conceive my child; the child that would rule on my right hand side. She was happy to agree to it," the unsub grinned a bloody smile as blood from his cut lip and eyebrow coloured his teeth ruby red; reminding Morgan of a vampire.

He could feel his control slipping again, but he couldn't trust himself to touch the man on his knees. As if his prayers had been answered, Emily strode into the room, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Would you help him to his feet?"

"Sure," Emily agreed. She walked over to the man, "Get on your feet Sanders!"

"I'm going to need some help, Emily Prentiss."

"Fine!" She grabbed his arm and began to pull him to his feet before she suddenly dropped him flat on his face. _Crunch!_ "Oh, I'm so sorry. I lost my balance," she said flatly.

Sanders howled from the floor, "You bitch! You broke my nose!"

"That's not very nice language. Get up."

This time the unsub managed to get himself to his feet on his own before Emily took his left arm and Morgan took a hold of his right arm.

Together they led him outside where the media was waiting; cameras flashed in a rapid strobe light that made Morgan happy he didn't have epilepsy as reporters surged forward, shoving cameras, microphones and video cameras into their faces, "Get back! Get out of the way!" Derek shouted as he got the unsub into the back of a police cruiser. He slammed the door closed and scanned the crowd for the ambulance. He saw it cordoned off with Penelope sitting at the back of the ambulance with a blanket around her shoulders while one of the paramedics was cleaning out the cut on her face.

As Morgan approached the ambulance Hotch intercepted him with Gideon and Prentiss close behind, "What happened in there?"

"Not much boss."

"Morgan…"

"I was trying to help Sanders to his feet when I _accidentally _lost my balance and my grip slipped."

Hotch shook his head, "There is going to be so much paperwork; I can feel it in my bones. At least Garcia is safe and relatively unharmed. Let's get back to the hotel and have a good night's sleep. We're leaving tomorrow at 1:20 pm."

"Hotch, if it's okay with you, I'd like to go to the hospital with Penelope."

"Sure. Call me and let me know how she is doing, okay?

"I will," Derek promised as he jogged the rest of the way to the ambulance as they were getting ready to close the doors. The vehicle left the area with its lights flashing.

"I don't want either of you doing paperwork tonight, okay? We're going back to the hotel to eat and then sleep. That's an order."

"Yes Sir," Emily replied as they all wearily made their way to the SUV.

**There you have it. Fresh off the press! Well…not really 'off the press', but I'm sure you know what I mean.**  **Please take the time and send me a review!! You'd make my day!**

**I remember reading somewhere that the Criminal Minds fanfic writers/readers are the nicest and I have to say I agree. You have all been phenomenal to me! Thanks!**

**FeistyFeral**


	14. AN

**Hi everyone,**

**Sorry I didn't post last week but I just haven't had the time. My only breaks from my schoolwork have been to eat, sleep, shower and read a small fic here or there. I'll try and post later this week.**

**Sorry about the A/N…I know you were all expecting a new chapter. **

**FeistyFeral**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again everyone!**

**First of all, I would like to apologize for the extreme delay in this chapter! I have been trying to balance way too many things at once and needed to put a few things on hold. Unfortunately, this story was one of them. However, it is now past 3 am and I just finished this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Second, I can't think of a clever way to say this: no I don't own anything, I never have and I probably never will.  
**

**And lastly, please review, it would make my rough couple of weeks seem so much better! (Have I resorted to guilt tripping my readers to get reviews? Yes. I really have.)**

During the ride to the hospital Garcia didn't say much of anything; even Derek's pet names didn't elicit much of a response other then an absent smile that didn't reach her eyes. She eventually just looked down at her hands and got lost in her thoughts.

"Hey Pen?" She just kept staring at her hands so he extended his hand. When it made contact with her should she nearly jumped out of her skin and tears threatened her again, Derek jerked his hand back, "Baby girl, what did he do to you?" he already knew some of it, but he dreaded knowing the details although he knew that she had to tell him what had happened in her own words for her to begin the healing process.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she struggled to out her terrifying experience into words, "I-I was sitting in the church, praying for the team and Spencer and JJ's baby when a man sat down beside me. It was dark, but I recognized him as soon as he looked at me…he had the eyes of a cold-blooded killer; no emotion whatsoever."

Morgan nodded in understanding, he'd seen those kinds of eyes in a lot of the unsub's he had apprehended during his colourful career.

"I tried to get up and he put his hand on my forearm," she stated as she absently rubbed her arm, wincing slightly, "He started talking about wanting to make the whole team pay for what happened to Detler…through my pain. He grabbed my hair and put a revolver to my head," she swallowed, trying to hold back the tears that were pooling in her eyes, "He dragged me out of the room and into the basement and I remember praying the whole time to hear you guys bursting into the church, to come and save me. I finally heard everyone running above us and then you called my name. I called back, and the next thing I knew I was waking up on a bed in a basement with a skull splitting migraine. He came in and told me he was the Archangel Michael and that I was to _give birth _to _his_ child! He told me to take off my clothes and when I told him 'no' he hit me with his belt," she gestured to her face where her eye was swollen closed and strips were holding the skin together. "I re-remember the sound of his z-zi-zipper going down; it was as loud as a gunshot and I kept thinking, 'he's going to rape me!'" she whispered as unending tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Derek had his hands splayed on his knees to keep from balling them into fists; he didn't know what to do. Normally, he would have held her and whispered into her hair, but when she jolted away from his touch earlier he began to think that not touching her would be a better way to go, "Penelope—"

"No! Let me finish!" she took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a bit, but the tears kept coming, "I got up and tried to run to the door, but I fell and he lost it. I heard the belt buckle jingle and then there was this white hot pain going down my back—"

The previously silent paramedic who was writing on a clipboard put it down, "He hit you on the back with a belt?"

Garcia seemed startled by his presence, "Y-yes…"

"Lean forward please, I need to check your back for injuries Ma'am."

Her eyes closed and her lips pressed together while she shook her head and Morgan frowned.

"Ma'am? I need to check your back for injuries, please lean forward."

"Mmm nmmt," she whimpered.

"Look man, how much longer until we're at the hospital?"

"ETA is two minutes."

"Then leave her be! Can't you see she's been through enough?"

"I need to check her back, it's my job."

"I don't care. She has full mobility and was able to walk herself out, just let her get to the hospital where she can be checked over by someone she's more comfortable with."

The medic scowled before letting the topic drop and returning to his paperwork, Morgan's frown grew, "Can I take a look baby girl?"

Garcia's eyes opened and she look at him werily, "Derek…"

"Please?"

She couldn't say no to him, she knew how stressed and anxious he had been since she vanished with Sanders; she could see it in his eyes, in the way his shoulders sagged, in the way his voice was somewhat raw. She knew from the stories JJ had told her about his behaviour when she had been shot, so she slowly leaned forward, wincing at the movement. Morgan helped her out of his jacket and gently lifted up the back of her shirt to reveal an angry red welt that went from her right shoulder to her left hip; he pulled her shirt back down and helped wrap the jacket around her again.

He took a shuddering breath, "I'm sorry!" he whispered.

Garcia, who had been staring at the foot of the stretcher, looked over at her lover, "What?"

"I'm so sorry, baby! I should have put myself out there! I should have known something was wrong! I should have been able to save you before any of this happened! I should ha—"

"Stop it! Would you listen to yourself? _I_ made the decision to risk _my _life. _I _did this to myself, but you know what? I'd do it all over again, Derek. If it means that JJ and Reid get to sleep for one whole night, if it means I brought some justice to all of those women that lost their lives, if it means that my Goddaughter didn't die for no reason, I'd do it again without a second thought. This is _not_ your fault, do you hear me?"

Derek was silent for a long moment before he raised his eyes to meet hers, "How can you do that?"

"Do what?"

"How can you be so selfless?" he asked honestly.

"I can be the way I am because I love you guys like my family—you _are _my family. I would do _anything _for you guys. I believe everything happens for a reason and right now I'm struggling to find a reason for the loss of my Goddaughter, but if I stop believing in that then my whole life makes no sense." She held her hand out and he took it in a gentle but firm grasp.

The ambulance slowed to a stop, "We're here, are you ready?"

"Yes."

Derek opened the doors to the ambulance and was met by a doctor, two nurses and Hotch, "I thought you were going back to the hotel."

"I was, but I needed to make sure Garcia was okay."

Morgan studied the older man's face, "And…?"

"And I wanted to tell Reid and JJ that we finally caught this son of a bitch."

Morgan nodded and turned at the sound of an angry Federal computer tech, "I am _not _being wheeled into the ER, I am going to _walk _because I can."

"Ma'am, please don't argue with me on this, you need to be wheeled in."

"Make me," she said as her chin rose and she slowly maneuvered herself out of the vehicle with a few grunts and hisses of pain. She stood on her own two feet and defiantly walked into the ER with her entourage following closely behind her.

Morgan slid his hand into Penelope's and gave it a reassuring squeeze while Hotch jogged up alongside the injured woman, "How are you?"

"I've been better, but I'll live."

"Morgan, I want you to stick to her like white on rice," he said while inclining his head toward Garcia.

"Yes Sir."

"I'm going to go and see the Reid's."

Penelope stopped in her tracks, "Don't tell them that I'm here."

"Gar—"

"No! They have enough to worry about. I'll go and see them when I'm bandaged up and explain what happened. If you tell JJ what happened she'll insist on coming to check on me."

"Okay," Hotch sighed as he departed and she could have sworn she saw a small smile on his lips, but then again, it could have just been her imagination.

The elevator doors dinged when Hotch arrived on JJ's floor. He strode over to the nurses' station and recognized Erin, "Hello."

"Agent Hotchner, right?"

"Yes."

"What can I do for you tonight?"

"I'm here to see the Reid's."

"It's late and Mrs. Reid needs her rest. You should come back tomorrow," she gently reminded him.

"I know, but I wanted to tell them that we caught the man that did this to her."

Pain and empathy flashed across her face, "I'll go and see if she's awake."

"Is Reid with her?"

"Spencer?"

"Yes, her husband."

"He hasn't left since that blonde woman with the computer came by."

Hotch nodded as Erin left to check on JJ. She reappeared a few minutes later, "They're both awake so you can go back and see them."

"Thank you Erin."

The woman looked at him in surprise, she hadn't expected him to remember her name, "You're welcome," she said slowly.

Hotch walked down the hallway and stood outside JJ's room for a long moment, composing himself before knocking lightly and entering the room.

The room was dimly lit and he noticed JJ lying in her bed, staring at the wall and Spencer sitting by her side, watching her face, "Hi."

Two sets of eyes turned on him and he shifted on his feet before walking to the end of JJ's bed, "How are you feeling?"

"They tell me I'll heal, Sir."

"Reid?"

"I'll live."

"I have some news."

JJ struggled to sit up, but it proved to be too difficult a task, so she settled for pressing the button on the bedrail and rose her bed to a semi sitting position, "Spence, turn on the lights, please."

Reid shot to his feet and clicked on the light over JJ's bed; everyone squinted for a minute while adjusting to the new luminescence in the room. Hotch looked at the two valued members of his team, "We got him."

Relief flooded Reid's face while JJ's remained a mask of indifference, "Is he dead?"

Both men looked at her, "No. There was a…situation. Sanders is in custody and will be treated for his injuries."

JJ shuddered, "Here?"

"No, I made sure he went to another hospital."

Reid spoke up, "What kind of situation?"

"That's something we can talk about later; right now I need the two of you to get some rest."

"When are you leaving?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know."

"Hotch?"

"Yeah JJ?"

"Go and get some sleep; you look like hell."

A ghost of a smile fluttered across his face, "Thanks. I'll come back in the morning and we can talk about everything."

"I'll walk you out," Spencer offered.

The two left the room and Reid put his hand on Hotch's arm, "What aren't you telling us?"

"Nothing that can't wait until morning. Go and be with JJ, she needs you right now as much as you need her."

"I don't think so. She hasn't spoken to me since I told her about the baby; nothing of significance anyway."

"She's grieving in her own way. Just be there and let her know that you aren't going anywhere."

"Thanks Hotch."

"Go and get some sleep," he reminded as he turned on his heel and left.

Spencer re-entered the room, "JJ?"

Her eyes looked at him, but there wasn't any spark of life in them, "You should sleep, you heard Hotch."

"I can't sleep," she whispered. "I keep seeing the ultrasound picture of our daughter, the sound of her heart beating at the doctor's appointments. I…I just…"

He crossed the room in four strides and climbed into bed with his wife, "I know Jen, me too."

"How do you not go insane? You have an eidetic memory; you must remember all of those horrible crime scenes that we've ever been to, you must see all of the victim's faces, hear all of the families cries!"

"I try to put it out of my mind. I try really hard not to think about it."

"How do you do that?"

"I think about you."

A sob burst from JJ's lips as she rested her head against her husband's chest and finally cried, "I miss her!"

"Me too, honey. I miss her too."

"I miss when she got the hiccups, I miss the reassuring bump of my belly, I even miss her incessant kicking at all hours of the night!"

"I miss talking to her; telling her all the things I hoped for and wanted for her."

"Oh, Spence…We need to think about funeral arrangements and where we want to bury our baby and…"

"Shhh…Let's not worry about those things tonight. We'll talk to the doctor tomorrow."

JJ sniffled, "Okay."

And it was that for the first time since the explosion that both Spencer and Jennifer Reid slept.

**A/N: Thanks to everyone that responded to my previous A/N, your encouragement helped me to try and relax as well as to get my behind in gear. You are too kind to me. Thanks for sticking with this story!!**

**FeistyFeral**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here's the next chapter as a bonus to all of you for sticking with me on this story! I finished a major assignment and decided to write the next chapter…I wrote two. This on is about a page shorter then my other posts, but I want the next chapter to stand alone. You'll see why. Enjoy!**

Derek paced outside the closed curtain while he scanned the faces around him; doctors ordering tests, nurses writing charts, patients lying on stretchers, loved ones sitting around anxiously and various other people milling around.

"I'm done."

He pulled back the curtain and saw Garcia sitting on the edge of her bed in his windbreaker and her pants. Her hair was pulled back from her face, revealing the angry bruise, stitches and her swollen eye, "How are you?"

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful."

"Either you're lying or you've lost your eyesight."

Derek chuckled, "You're always beautiful to me, Penelope Garcia."

She rolled her eyes, "Uh huh."

"I'm serious. The first time I saw you, do you know what I thought?"

"What?"

"I thought you were gorgeous, but I knew you'd be a handful."

"How did you know that?"

"Because you looked me up and down before saying, 'I'm Penelope Garcia and you must be Adonis.'"

She giggled, "I'm surprised you remembered that."

"I remember almost everything you've ever said to me, sweet thing."

She opened her mouth to reply when the doctor strode in with her test results, "Ms. Garcia?"

"Yes."

"I'm Dr. Abbey, I have your test results," He turned to Derek, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"He can stay. What's the verdict?"

"You took a nasty blow to the back of your head, but you aren't concussed. The laceration and contusions on your face will heal and go away, although there may be a scar. The contusion on your back is just that—a bruise. There is no internal damage. I would still like you to stay the night here—"

"No thanks. I want to go home…well, back to the hotel. Their beds are much more comfortable and the food is excellent."

The doctor gave a resigned sigh, "Suit yourself, I'll send the nurse in to get you to sign some forms and then you're free to go."

"Thank you Dr. Abbey." The doctor shook hands with Garcia and Morgan before exiting the curtained area and speaking with a nurse.

Dr. Abbey left and Derek turned to Garcia with his mouth open, "Don't even think about saying it Derek Morgan!"

"Saying what?" he asked slowly.

"Saying something along the lines of 'you should spend the night here in the hospital' or even 'the doctor is right'." Derek's eyes slightly bugged out of his head because those were the two things he was going to say.

"Besides, I want to go back to the hotel and sleep in that comfortable bed with you," she added with a sheepish smile.

"You amaze me."

"Why?"

He shook his head, "You just—"

"Ms. Garcia?" A brunette woman in scrubs interrupted, "I'm Jean, I just need you to fill out these forms, give them back to me, and then you're free to go."

"Perfect!" she exclaimed as she took the clipboard and began eagerly filling them out.

Hotch entered his dark room and glanced at the glowing digits on the bedside clock: 4:55 am. He sighed as he removed his tie and kicked off his shoes; sitting on the side of his bed and pulling out his wallet. He removed a small picture of his family before it fell apart and he remembered the day it had been taken.

_He had just been suspended after the case at the college and he had made a picnic for his family. Hailey walked into the kitchen as he finished putting the napkins in the basket, "What are you doing, Aaron?"_

"_I made a picnic lunch and thought we could go to the park with Jack and enjoy an afternoon to ourselves."_

_Hailey's smile lit up her face as tears welled in her eyes, "Really?"_

"_Really. Let's get Jack ready and go."_

_They had gotten a very excited Jack loaded into his car and drove over to the park; it was a sunny day and rather warm for that time of year. Hailey spread out the blanket under their tree as he put Jack onto his shoulders and pointed out a black squirrel with a nut in his mouth, "What doing?" his son asked with wonder as he pointed a chubby finger at the creature._

"_The squirrel is taking that nut back to his house to eat," he explained._

_Jack squealed and he had laughed at his son's exuberance in the simple everyday occurrence._

"_Aaron? Lunch is ready," she called out._

_He put Jack on his feet, "I'll race you to Mommy!"_

_Jack giggled before taking off on somewhat unsteady feet. He had pretended to run as fast as he could and 'tripped' just before reaching Hailey. Jack had stopped in his tracks and observed his father's grass stained jeans and white t-shit before jumping on his him and laughing hysterically. Hailey joined in the laughter that had seemed to be missing for much too long._

"_Daddy fall!" Jack exclaimed between giggles._

"_Daddy did fall!" Hailey laughed._

_He rolled onto his back and picked Jack up by the waist while making airplane noises and raising and lowering his beloved son._

"_Hailey?" came a voice; he looked up to see a woman with a toddler in tow._

"_Carol? How are you?"_

"_I'm—" her response was cut off by her daughters scream as she launched herself at Jack. Carol laughed, "I'm good, how are you?"_

"_I'm good! Suzie is getting so big!"_

"_Jack is growing too! Where does the time go?" she asked as she looked at him with curiosity._

_Hailey noticed this and said, "This is my husband Aaron. Aaron this is Carol Davis and her daughter Suzie. Jack and Suzie have play dates every Monday."_

_He stood and shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you," he said politely while feeling the sting of not knowing his son's playmate or his wife's friend._

"_You too," she smiled._

_Jack and Suzie were playing and babbling to each other and Hailey took out her camera, "Say cheese!"_

_The toddlers momentarily stopped their playing and grinned, "'eese!"_

"_Would you like me to take a picture of the three of you?" Carol offered._

"_That would be perfect! Thanks!" Hailey handed over her camera and Carol took a picture of the three of them sitting on a navy blue blanket under their favourite tree on the perfect afternoon._

Hotch smiled at the memory before a tear slid down his cheek; he missed his wife and child beyond comprehension, but his work was important to him as well as to every person they saved; maybe one day Hailey would realize that. He shook his head slightly before removing the rest of his clothes, donning sweat pants and climbing into bed.

"Finished!" Garcia exclaimed.

"Finally!" Derek sighed as he tried to work out the kink in his neck.

She began to rise from the bed as Derek rushed to her side to help her, "I'm fine," she said while wincing as his hand touched the welt on her back.

"Sorry!" he said as he pulled his hand away quickly.

"It's okay. Let's go find that nurse so we can get out of here!"

They exited the room together and found Jean at the nurses station filling out another chart, "Jean?"

She glanced up, "Ms. Garcia, are you all finished filling out those forms?"

"Here you go!" she exclaimed while handing over the sheath of papers.

Jean looked them over before smiling, "Your paperwork seems to be in order. Thanks." She handed Garcia a container with pills, "These are for you; they're for the pain. Just follow the directions on the bottle and don't operate any heavy machinery or drink while taking them."

"Sounds good."

"You're free to go. Don't forget to make an appointment with your family doctor as soon as possible and arrange to have those stitches taken out in seven to ten days. Take care of yourself."

"Thanks!" Garcia turned and put the container into her lime green handbag. Derek took her hand in his and led her out of the building, "So Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"How are we going to get back to the hotel? We don't have a car."

"There's an area where cabs wait for customers around the corner. I noticed it when we got here."

Together they got into one of the mentioned cabs and rode back to the hotel in comfortable silence. They arrived and Derek paid the cab driver; Penelope was sleeping with her head resting on his shoulder, "Goddess?"

"Five more minutes," she mumbled.

He chuckled when her eyes shot open, "Wha…?"

"We're back at the hotel."

"Oh. Right."

They exited the vehicle and he led her back to her room, "I'll wait out here while you get changed."

"No, I'm not getting changed. These are comfortable clothes and I just don't have the energy to do that."

"Okay," he pulled down the covers and helped her climb in before opening the mini bar and removing a bottle of water along with the pills from her purse, "Take a pill before bed, you'll sleep better."

"Yes, Dr. Morgan," she sighed.

"I like the sound of that…there's a lot of possibilities."

"Oh yeah, there's plenty of possibilities," she yawned.

Derek shed his shirt and jeans along with his shoes before carefully climbing into bed beside Garcia, mindful of her various injuries and put his hand of her hip. Just as they were both drifting off Derek felt Penelope interlace her fingers with his.

**I hoped you liked this one—it's considerably lighter then the next one. As always, please read and review when you have the time (God knows I'm **_**waaaay **_**behind in reviewing the stories I was reading!) Thanks!**

**FeistyFeral**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello again everyone!**

**I've been on a roll this week with my homework (grins) and with this story (bigger grin!). I even have the next chapter written! I know, I almost fainted myself when I realized how much I got done this week. And as a 'thank you' to all of you for sticking with me, encouraging me and your understanding here is another quick update. Enjoy!**

Spencer's eyes fluttered open and he found himself staring directly into cobalt blue ones, "Hey," he mumbled.

"Hi. I'm sorry about the past couple of days," JJ whispered.

Spencer put a finger on her lips, "You have nothing to be sorry about." She gently kissed his finger before sighing, "What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about what we should name our daughter," she answered honestly in a hoarse whisper.

"What names were you thinking of?" he asked gently.

"I don't know. I need to see her to be able to narrow it down."

"I'll go and talk to the nurse about how we can arrange to see her," he whispered as he disentangled himself from his wife and left the room. He wandered down the hallway and ran into Dr. Grant as she exited another patient's room, "Oh! Sorry Dr. Grant! I d-didn't see you there! I w-was j-j-just—"

"Dr. Reid!" the physician interrupted.

"Yes?"

"What can I do for you?"

"Uh, right. JJ and I would like to see our daughter."

Dr. Grant's eyes shifted away for a moment, "I don't think that would be wise at this point in time."

"I understand your concerns, but my wife and I would like to see our daughter to be able to name her. We will also need to talk to someone about funeral arrangements."

The doctor took a good look at the man in front of him, "I'll need to see Mrs. Reid before I make any decisions. Let's go and see her."

The pair entered the room and JJ used the controls on the side of the bed to help her sit up, "Hi, Dr. Grant."

"Good morning Mrs. Reid, how are you?"

"I'll be a lot better if you start calling me JJ and if you let us see our daughter."

"I know that you want to see her, but I don't know if right now would be the best move."

"I get where you're coming from, but we both decided that we needed to see her in order to name her. I _want_ to see her, to give her a name; an identity. I want to be able to take her home and finally put her at rest."

Dr. Grant regarded JJ for a long moment before sighing, "Okay. I'll make the arrangements on some conditions."

"Name them."

"I want you in a wheelchair for the whole time and I will go with you. If I feel that this is taking too great a toll on you then I will take you back to your room. There will be no exceptions whatsoever."

JJ looked at Spencer, "I think that's reasonable, honey," he admitted.

She sighed and shook her head slightly, "You have a deal."

"I'll go and find a wheelchair for you and make the arrangements. Give me half an hour."

True to her word, there was a soft knock of JJ's door almost exactly thirty minutes later, "Come in."

Dr. Grant entered the room with a rather large man, "This is Edward, he's going to help me lift you onto the wheelchair."

"I can do it," Reid offered.

"No offence Mr. Reid, but I don't want her to get hurt. She has a lot of injuries to contend with and right now a trained professional would be best way to go."

Edward moved forward, "Are you ready Mrs. Reid?"

"Yes. And for the record, I'm JJ, nice to meet you Edward," she extended her uninjured hand.

He took her hand and shook it, "Well, in that case, I'm Ed."

JJ pushed the blankets off her body and Ed began to lift her while Dr. Grant kept a close eye on everything. The movement made pain explode all over her body but she purposely kept an impassive look on her face. In no time she was in the wheelchair, "That wasn't too bad, thanks Ed." She turned to the other two people in the room, "Let's go."

Dr. Grant took a hold of the handles and began to push her out of the room, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm as well as can be right now," she lied in her most convincing voice.

They took the elevator to the basement where the couple was brought into the morgue. There was a steel autopsy table on the left and a small bundle was wrapped in a pink blanket, "She's right over there. There are a few things you should know before you see her; her skin will be pale, almost white and somewhat translucent. She—"

"We know," JJ ground out.

"My apologies, I forgot your occupations. You know what to expect. I'll be right outside if you need anything. Mr. Reid, I want you to come and get me if JJ seems too upset. She doesn't need a setback right now."

"I will," he promised. Dr. Grant left the room and the door closed behind her.

The couple remained in their spots for a few minutes trying to brace themselves for the worst. "There's no shame if you've changed your mind," he soothed as his wife took long, deep breaths.

She cleared her throat, "No. I want to do this. I _need_ to do this."

"Let me know when you're ready."

She took one more breath, "I'm ready."

He wheeled her over to the table and stood at her side. JJ extended her hand and let it hover over the part of the blanket that covered their daughter's face experiencing a moment of uncertainty. She grasped the edge of it between her thumb and index finger before pulling it back slowly; her breath caught in her throat as tears began to pour down her face.

Silence reigned throughout the room for a long time, "She's beautiful," she finally choked out.

JJ got no response from her husband; she looked up and saw him with his hand over his mouth as tears coursed down his face and silent sobs wracked his body. She held out her splinted arm and took a hold of his unoccupied one. She used her other hand to gently unravel their daughter from the blanket; a cry escaped her lips, "She has your hands!"

"She has your lips," he whispered, "And your hair…"

They took their time memorizing each and every detail, "Did you read that whole book of baby names Spencer?"

He looked at her in surprise, "Of course I did."

"When you look at our daughter, what names stand out to you?"

"Aimee means beloved friend in French, Kayla means pure and beloved, Camille means perfect in French, Anna is Hebrew for gracious and merciful…" his voice softly trailed off in favour of admiring the beautiful child that lay before him.

"What about Abigail? I remember liking it, but I don't know why."

Spencer let out a breath, "Abigail means joy of the father."

The hush in the room grew until the silence was deafening, "I still like Abigail," JJ confessed, unable to take her eyes off of the only child she would ever have.

"I like Kayla," he answered while gazing at his daughter.

"What do you think about Kayla Abigail Reid?"

"I think it's a beautiful name."

"Me too. Spence…Do you think it would be okay if I just…"

"Just what?"

"If I just held her for a minute?"

"I think she would have loved that."

JJ leaned forward and gently picked up the tiny bundle and cradled her in her arms, "Hi Kayla Abigail, I'm your Mama," she whispered as her voice broke, "I've loved you since I first found out about you. I'm always going to love you and I miss you more then you could ever imagine. I wish I could have protected you and I would give anything to be able to go back and change what happened, but I'll always have you in my heart and my mind." She tenderly pressed a small kiss to the child's forehead. "Do you want to hold her?"

Spencer sucked in a breath, "Yes."

JJ handed him their child and he cuddled her close, "Hi Kayla, I'm your Daddy. I have so much to tell you. I wanted the world for you, but I guess it was too good for you. I wanted to hear you say your first word, to see you take your first step…to see your first smile. I wanted to teach you so many things, but I promise I'll take care of your Mama and help her through this. I remember when she first told me about you; I was scared but I was so elated. I wrote in a journal every night after that with little things I thought or wanted to say to you, but none of them seem important now except that I've always loved you and that you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen, except your Mama; the two of you are too beautiful for your own good. I love you sweetheart."

After almost a half an hour of silence Dr. Grant knocked on the door and walked into the room. The sight that met her eyes nearly brought her to her knees: JJ was cradling the baby while Spencer knelt by her side with one arm wrapped around her and his other hand on the top of his daughters head. The Reid's glanced up, "Can I do anything for the two of you?"

Spencer shook his head, but JJ whispered, "What colour are her eyes?"

The doctor looked to the floor at the use of the present tense, "They were the most beautiful blue I've ever seen with brown near her irises."

JJ looked down at the bundle in her arms, "A little bit of both of us…"

"Yes," the doctor confirmed. "I hate to say this, but you need to get back to bed JJ."

"No!" came the heartbreaking whisper.

"I'm sorry; I really am, but you need to go back to bed."

"Can we have five more minutes?"

"Only five minutes."

"Okay…"

Once the five minutes were up both of the Reid's kissed their child for the last time before putting her back on the gurney and saying their goodbyes. JJ was brought back to her room where Ed was waiting to put her back onto her bed. When she was resting comfortably she requested to be left alone with her husband for the remainder of the day.

**I know this was an emotional chapter, but it needed to be written! I promise things should be lighter from here on out (for the most part), but I think there's going to have to be one or two more chapters like this one; I hope you don't mind! As for naming baby Reid…that was really tough! I ended up picking the two names I thought would fit their child the best.**

**I know this was another short chapter, but I just couldn't bring myself to add anything else; it didn't feel right. Please R&R when you can! Thanks!**


	18. Chapter 18

Okie dokie, I'm baaaaaaack

**Okie dokie, I'm baaaaaaack! Lol Here's the next chapter, it's longer then usual, but I figured you all deserved it due to the marvelous reviews and encouragement! Enjoy this lighter chapter!**

The day following the capture of Dillon Sanders was a quiet one for the team; Garcia and Morgan tried to see the Reid's, but they were informed that the couple had asked to be left alone for the day. They returned to the hotel and ran into Gideon and Emily exiting the restaurant, "Hey," Morgan greeted from his position slightly behind his lover.

"Hi Derek; how are you doing Penelope?" Gideon asked.

"I'm okay; I look a lot worse then I feel." Derek rolled his eyes, "Derek Morgan don't you dare roll your eyes at me."

"Wh—what?" he stuttered. "How did you know I was rolling my eyes?!"

"I have eyes on the back of my head," she replied in a somewhat exasperated voice.

Derek sighed, "Whatever."

Emily laughed, "You two sound even more like a married couple than before!"

"Emily," Derek warned.

"Break it up kids," Gideon laughed; it felt good to be able to laugh again without feeling the spirit crushing guilt along with it.

"Where are the two of you headed?" Penelope asked.

"I don't know; we all have our case reports to write so I think I'm going to do that," Gideon replied.

"Me too," Emily winced, "I've been avoiding it for as long as possible, but I want to get it all down on paper while it's still fresh on my mind. I don't want Sanders getting off on a technicality because of me."

Murmurs of agreement went around the room, "We're going to grab a bite to eat and then I'll probably do the same," Morgan confirmed, "Has anyone seen Hotch today?"

Emily thought for a moment, "No," she answered with concern tainting her tone.

"Me either," replied Penelope as she shot a look towards Gideon.

"I'll go and check on him," Gideon offered.

"Thanks Gideon." Derek took Garcia's hand and led her into the restaurant.

"They finally got together," Gideon observed.

"Yeah, they deserve each other. I'm going back to my room to write my report, if you need anything drop by; I should be there for a while."

"Okay," he confirmed as Emily left and he pulled his cell phone off his belt. He considered it for a few seconds before replacing it and heading over to the front desk, "Excuse me?"

"How can I help you Sir?" asked a short, plump woman.

"I need a keycard for Room 711, please."

"Are you staying there?" she asked.

"No bu—"

"I'm afraid I can't give you the key to that room then Sir, how else can I help you?" she asked in a condescending tone as she flipped her hair back and turned her nose up at him.

Gideon sighed; this woman was clearly enjoying her little power trip. He pulled out his ID and flashed it in her face, "This is federal business and I need the keycard to that room right now."

"Don't you need a warrant?" she asked with a holier-than-thou tone.

"Not according to Section 81, Subsection 19.5-A of the Charter," he lied, "Can I have the key now?"

"I should get my manager…"

"So you don't have the authorization?" he baited.

She harrumphed; "Of course I do!" she snatched the key from behind the counter and thrust it at him with a scowl, "Here!"

"Thank you Ma'am," Gideon said in an extremely pleasant voice, clearly infuriating the woman. He turned on his heel and took the elevator to their floor.

He stood outside for a moment with his ear near the door; it was met by silence. He knocked softly. It was mid afternoon, but Hotch hadn't been sleeping lately and he didn't want to disturb Hotch if he really was sleeping.

When Hotch didn't answer his knock, Gideon used the keycard and opened the door; the room was almost completely dark due to the drawn shades.

Gideon squinted in the dim room and could make out Hotch's sleeping figure, he turned, crossed the room and when his hand closed around the doorknob a sleep filled voice sounded making him freeze in his place, "Jason?"

"Sorry Hotch, I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine. What time is it?" he asked as he groggily washed a hand over his face.

"It's almost 3:30."

"PM?"

"Yes."

Hotch groaned, "I never sleep this late! I have to get up and call the Director and do my paperwork and see when we can get back to Virginia and—"

"Hotch?"

"Yeah?"

"Calm down, you have all day to do that and I'm sure the Director will understand why you are late calling her. You needed to sleep. What time did you get back to the hotel?"

"It was almost five."

"Did you see Spencer and JJ?"

"Yes, I stopped in and told them we caught Sanders."

"How did they look?"

"Reid looks like he's ninety and JJ just looks…broken. I don't know how they're dealing with things right now."

"Have you spoken to Jack or Hailey recently?"

"I called Hailey a few nights ago; she wouldn't let me talk to Jack, but it was really late…"

"Have you tried calling since then?"

"No; I haven't had the time to sit down and take any time for myself."

"Why don't you call them now?"

"Because I have to call the Director," he reasoned.

"Call her after you talk to your son. You'll feel better after hearing his voice."

"Okay." Gideon reached for the doorknob for a second time, "Jason?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks," he smiled and Gideon could hear it in his tone as he left the room.

Hotch sat up and shivered as the cool air chilled his bare chest, he got out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt along with a pair of socks. He got back into the warm bed, propping pillows between his back and the headboard and picked up his cell phone from the nightstand. He dialed Hailey's cell phone.

"Hello?" her voice came across the line and he could hear Jack laughing in the background and it made him break out in a smile of his own.

"Hi Hailey."

"Aaron." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"It's been a rough week."

It was Hailey's turn to clear her throat and Hotch could tell she had moved into another room because he couldn't hear Jack's giggles anymore, "I saw the news last night."

"You saw the news?" Hotch repeated, clearly confused.

"Yes. They did a report on these women that had been killed in the Boston area and they said that the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit had been called in. They…they said that there was an explosion and that your press liaison had been seriously hurt. Is JJ okay?"

"No. Do you remember how I told you that she and Spencer were expecting their first child?"

"Yes," came the hesitant reply.

"A tech saw the bomb and threw her from the van before it exploded. He died and JJ ended up losing the baby."

"No!" she breathed.

"Yes. Due to the injuries she sustained she won't be able to have anymore children."

"Oh God, Aaron! They also said that one of your team was kidnapped…"

"Garcia; she was taken by the unsub."

"Is she okay?"

"She'll heal physically, but I don't know about the rest…the unsub tried to—never mind."

"Tried to what?"

"Nothing; I shouldn't be talking about this. That's the reason you took Jack and left me."

Silence buzzed across the line for a few moments, "Are you okay, Aaron?" She knew Hotch better then he knew himself and he sounded as if on this last case he had been pushed well beyond his limits.

"I'll be fine," he lied while all he wanted to do was yell and tell her that he wasn't okay, that he wanted her and Jack back, but that ship had sailed. "Could I speak to Jack for a second?"

"Sure," she said as she moved back into the other room and Jack's laughter came back across the line, "Aaron?"

"Yes, Hailey?"

"Take care of yourself too, okay?"

"I will."

Hotch heard Hailey in the background, "Jack? Daddy's on the phone!"

"Daddy?!" the young child cried out.

"Yes," she laughed, "Here."

There was some fumbling before, "Daddy?!"

"Hi Jack!" he smiled as he did his best to try and hide the tears in his voice, "How are you?"

"Me good Daddy. How you?"

"I'm good little man. What are you doing?"

"Playing with Diego! Swiper come! 'Swiper—" started his only child with one of his favourite Dora related phrases.

"No swiping!" Hotch joined in, laughing.

Jack giggled, "Boots funny!"

"Yes, Boots is funny."

Jack's laughter stopped and he sniffed, "Daddy?"

"What's wrong, Jack?" Hotch asked with concern.

"Daddy, when you come home?"

"I'm coming home soon."

"We go back to home?"

"What do you mean?" he asked while trying to follow his son's sporadic line of thought.

"Home. My room."

_He wants to go back to our house,_ Hotch realized, "We'll see."

"'kay. Going go Daddy."

"Okay Jack, I love you."

"Love you too Daddy. Bye!"

As Hotch lowered the phone from his ear he heard Jack again, "_Daddy? Daddy?!_"

He quickly put his cell phone against his ear, "I'm here, Jack."

"I miss you!"

"I miss you too. Be good for Mommy."

"'kay. Bye."

"Goodbye, Jack." This time he waited for the telltale click before he hung up the phone. He sighed at the realization of how much Jack's vocabulary had improved since he last saw him. Hotch decided not to dwell on the phone call at the moment so he called the Director.

Later on that evening the team was summoned and told to meet in Hotch's room. They entered the tidy room and noticed his reports were all finished and placed in a neat stack beside the fax machine, "Come on in. Make yourselves at home." Everyone came in and took a seat, "I wanted to thank you all for your help this week. This was a brutal case for all involved, but more so for some members of the team then others."

Eyes turned to Garcia, "I'm fine!" she groaned for what felt like the millionth time since she had been rescued.

"I spoke with the Director this afternoon and she told me that we can stay here for another week if we need to. I understand that some of you may need to get back to Virginia for one reason or another. What I'm asking is when you would all like to head home?"

Looks were exchanged before Garcia finally spoke up, "I'll leave when JJ and Spencer leave. I don't care if I need to buy a plane ticket home, I'm not leaving without them."

"Me either," Derek seconded.

"Same with me," Emily confirmed.

"I don't plan on leaving until I know the Reid's are with us…all of them," Gideon said quietly.

All eyes turned on Hotch; they knew he wanted to get home to see Jack, "Then it's decided. We came here as a team and we will leave as a team. We'll stay here until all of the Reid's are able to come back with us. Now, who has finished their reports?"

Groans sounded, "Emily and I finished ours a couple hours ago," Gideon answered rubbing the crick in his neck.

"I finished mine," replied Morgan.

"I finished mine early this afternoon." Disbelieving looks were given to Garcia, "What? I have a program on my laptop that lets me dictate to it and the program writes for me. It didn't take me more then an hour to write my report."

"I need to get one of those!" voiced Emily.

"Me too! Do you know how long it takes me to type?" Gideon asked as the whole team burst out laughing.

"Yeah Gideon, we've seen you trying to type. It's about as painful as watching an antelope being eaten by a lion," Morgan jested.

"You think it's painful to watch? Try _being_ the 'antelope'!" the laughter escalated.

**This is the end of what I have written. I was on such a roll last week and this week I seemed to have lost that, but I'm hoping it will come back soon! Thanks for all of the amazing reviews for the last chapter! You are all too kind! I hope to hear from all of you again soon! Take care!**

**Netta, I'm sorry I haven't responded to your reviews yet, but you weren't signed in and I couldn't click on the link. They were wonderful reviews and never failed to make me laugh, smile, or feel better about what I have put out favourite characters though! Thanks!!**

**FeistyFeral**


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Nope, I still own nothing even remotely linked to Criminal Minds…except for my imagination ;)

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still own nothing even remotely linked to Criminal Minds…except for my imagination ;)**

**Finals: soon to be my cause of death. I'm sorry I haven't updated or replied to your reviews (I'm doing that right now though…) but I've been buried under so much homework and so many assignments/study notes that I just haven't been able to play in the world of FanFiction that we all know and love so much. '(**

**So, here's my update (hopefully some of you will still be willing to read and review this chapter!). I have finals next week and then I begin working two jobs…another one is pending, which means I'll have no social life and will hopefully be able to finish up this story. P**

**Enough of my excuses…lol…Thanks for reading and (hopefully) reviewing this chapter!! Enjoy!**

After their meeting in Hotch's room, everyone decided it would be best to go out for dinner as a team. They picked a Greek restaurant and booked the entire back room; they didn't want to have to share tonight with anyone else.

They entered the blue and white room and found small candles burning at the centre of their circular table; linen napkins were placed in the crystal wine glasses and silver was placed around the exquisite plates, "Wow," Emily breathed.

"Yeah," Derek whispered in awe as the rest of the team stood frozen in their places, "How did you find this place goddess?"

"I'm brilliant. You needn't question the method to my supposed madness; it will boggle your mere mind, mortal."

Garcia's banter seemed to serve its purpose as the team's spell appeared to shatter, "Let's sit down, this isn't our first time out in public," Hotch reminded them.

Everyone took their seats; Gideon sat beside Hotch, Hotch sat beside Emily, Emily sat beside Garcia, Garcia sat beside Morgan and Morgan sat beside Gideon; completing their circle.

A waiter appeared, "Hello, my name is Nick, I'll be serving you tonight. What can I get you to drink?"

"I'll have a glass of white wine," Gideon spoke first.

"I'll have one too," Emily agreed.

"I'll have red," Hotch answered.

"I'll have a beer," Morgan volunteered.

"I'm going to stick to water tonight, thank you."

The waiter scribbled on his small notepad, "Okay, I'll be back momentarily with your beverages."

They opened their menus and began to discuss what they wanted to eat; Nick arrived back shortly and dispensed the drinks to their owners, "Can I get you any appetizers?"

Looks went around the table and Gideon finally spoke for the group, "We'll have Spanakopita and Tzatziki with pita bread, please."

"Yes, Sir. Would your companions like anything else?" A chorus of negative responses sounded and Nick disappeared again.

Morgan glanced up, "What did you order for us, Gideon?"

"Spanakopita is spinach wrapped in a phyllo pastry and Tzatziki is yogurt with cucumber and garlic puree. They're good, trust me."

"I trust you, but how do you know so much about Greek food?" Emily asked.

"I spent a summer in Grease when I was younger; I fell in love with the culture, the country and the food."

"I can see that," Hotch said as he gestured to Gideon's belly and took a sip of his wine.

The room fell completely silent, until Hotch grinned and Gideon laughed while pointing at the others, "You should have seen your expressions!" The table exploded in laughter; Gideon turned to his friend, "They really don't think you have a sense of humour."

Hotch shook his head, "They still have so much to learn," he sighed regrettably before breaking out in another rare smile and laughing again.

The appetizers came and were consumed in a record-breaking time, even for the B.A.U. Nick reappeared just as the last piece of pita bread was swallowed, "Would you like some time to think over your dinner choices?"

"I'm ready to order," Morgan volunteered and the others agreed. "I'll have a Gyro, please." Nick nodded in response as he scribbled on his notepad.

"I'll have the Moussaka," ordered Emily.

"I'm going to have the Giouvetsi," Hotch said while sipping his wine again.

"I'll take the Kleftiko," said Gideon with a smile.

Nick finished writing and looked around at the group, "Will that be all?"

"_Ne, efharistoomay_," Gideon said smoothly, sounding as if he was born speaking Greek.

Nick chuckled in surprise and gave a slight bow, "Parakalo." With that, he disappeared again.

"What did you say?" Garcia asked.

"I said thank you," he replied as his eyes shone in amusement. The team began to repeat what had been said, with corrections coming from Gideon. Emily was the first to master the phrase on her second time and eventually the whole table had picked up the words 'thank you'.

The food came and was eaten, the drinks were consumed, as was the dessert and laughter presided throughout the room.

When things looked like they were settling down Hotch stood and tapped his spoon to his wine glass, "I would like to say a few things." Groans sounded but Hotch only shook his head and began, "I would like to thank all of you for coming out on this last case. I know it was one that went above and beyond our usual comfort level, but you all stuck with it and I know that Sanders' future victims would thank you with their lives if they knew what could have befallen them. I spoke with the Director and she decided that after we all get back to Quantico we deserve a week off." Cheers rose and Hotch smiled to see his team in high spirits again. "We also lost one of our own on this case. I spoke to Spencer briefly before we came here and he told me that they had named their daughter Kayla Abigail Reid and they will be having a service when we get back home." The laughter was silenced as all members took on a somber expression, "However, even through this tragedy, we found a wealth of strength and an even stronger sense of family, something that Spencer wanted me to thank you all for, especially you Garcia," at this the tech's cheeks stained pink. "I want you all to know that I have found a brother or sister in all of you and I wouldn't trade it for my life. You all know that Hailey has left and taken Jack with her, but you have all helped me hold myself together through your acts of kindness and compassion. I appreciate you allowing me to have my privacy when I need it. Thank you all very much for everything you have put into your work as well as your personal relationships. I couldn't possibly dream of working with another group of people after working with such a considerate, devoted and affectionate team." Hotch raised his glass in the air, "Here's to the families we were born with, the ones we have made and the ones we are going to make."

A round of 'here, here's' and cheers went up around the room and Garcia dabbed at her moist eyes. Hotch footed the bill using his company credit card ("It's the least they can do for us," he reasoned) and everyone headed back to the hotel with Garcia driving the SUV.

In the hallway of the hotel, everyone said their goodnights and departed to their respective rooms. Garcia removed her makeup before entering the room that Derek had taken up residence in, "I'll be right back," she said as she put her shoes back on.

"Where are you going, hot stuff?" he asked from his perch on the end of the bed.

"I have to talk to Hotch for a minute. You go to bed, I'll be back."

"I don't feel comfortable with you walking around alone this late at night."

She rolled her eyes so far back she could have sworn she saw her brain, "He's literally across the hallway. You can stand here and watch me walk over."

Morgan got to his feet and faithfully stood in the doorway as Garcia knocked lightly on the door across the hall. Hotch answered it in gray sweatpants and an old black t-shirt. He saw Morgan and nodded at him; Morgan closed the door to the room. "Is everything okay?" he asked as concern flickered in his eyes.

"I'm fine, but if people don't stop asking me that, heads are going to start rolling," she replied with an exasperated moan.

"Would you like to come in?" he asked as he stood to the side.

"No thanks, I just wanted to say that what you said tonight at dinner was by far one of the nicest things someone has ever said in reference to me. I thought you should know that I consider you to be my family too. I'm sure you're aware that I don't have any blood relatives, but blood is only so thick. You guys are my family and I couldn't have chosen a better one."

Hotch looked at the ground for a long moment before clearing his throat and looking back at Garcia with gleaming eyes, "I meant what I said."

"So do I."

He smiled at her, taking a step forward and gently hugging her. Garcia was bewildered by Hotch's hug at first, but she soon returned it with fervor, absently noting how good he smelled. He stepped back, "You should go to bed," Garcia opened her mouth to argue but Hotch cut her off, "Morgan is probably chomping at the bit to know what we've been talking about and why I hugged you."

"Why would he know we hugged?" she asked.

"Because he's standing at the door, watching us through the security hole."

"How…?"

"I can see the shadow of his feet under the door," he explained while waving at the door. The shadowed feet quickly moved away from the door, eliciting laughter from the duo in the hallway. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Hotch." Garcia turned on her heel and into her room; as she closed the door she saw Hotch watching to make sure that she got back to her room safely. She rolled her eyes which made him smile as the simultaneously closed their doors and slid the locks home.

"What were you doing?" she demanded with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Who me?" Morgan asked, slightly abashed.

"Yes you!" she hissed.

"I wasn't doing anything…" he lied.

"Then why were you spying on Hotch and I?" she questioned.

"…Sp—spying? What makes you think I was spying on you?" Derek stuttered as he squirmed.

"Hotch saw your feet under the door, smartass."

"Oh." If he could blush, Garcia was sure he was doing it at that moment.

"Why were you watching us?" she asked allowing more anger to lace her voice; she liked watching the unflappable Derek Morgan squirm—it didn't happen nearly enough.

"Why did you hug him?" Morgan shot back, trying to redirect the conversation.

"I asked you first," she replied indignantly, trying not to sound like a five year old.

"Be-because…you might have need some protection. Just because Sanders is away doesn't mean you're out of danger. There could be a copycat," he tried to reason, clearly grasping at straws.

"And you don't trust Hotch to protect me if someone came after me? I'll be sure to let him know," she baited as she struggled to keep a straight face.

"No! What I meant was…was just…I don't think that Hotch couldn't…" he fumbled with a panicked expression marring his handsome features.

She couldn't hold it in anymore and her laughter exploded from her red lips as she gasped for air.

"What?" came Derek's dumbfounded inquiry. "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh Derek!" she laughed, "You should have seen your face," she bent over at the waist, "It was priceless!" She giggled, "And you were so flustered!"

Derek's face set in a hard line as he advanced on Penelope, "You think that's funny?" She continued to laugh as Derek's frightened face flashed through her mind, answering his question, "Oh, you think that's funny, don't you?" he asked as he wrapped his arms gently around her giggling form, moved her hair to the side and began kissing his way up her neck.

Garcia's giggles subsided and turned into a soft moan, "You are going to kill me," she sighed as she tilted her head to allow him better access to her neck.

"But what a way to go," he whispered, giving her goosebumps and making her shiver in anticipation.

"Mmm," she moaned as he gently nipped her earlobe, "You're so good it's got to be a sin…"

**There you have it ladies and gentlemen! I hoped you liked the lighter chapter…I'll let your minds take Derek and Penelope wherever you want them to go ;P Please don't forget to read and review!! Thanks again!!**

**FeistyFeral**


	20. Chapter 20

Hi everyone

**Hi everyone!**

**I'm back (again). Sorry for the excessively long wait; working two full time jobs is hard! (And I never thought I'd be happy to get the flu!) Enjoy!**

**P.S.—I don't own anything: the characters, show, etc.**

**The song in this chapter is "Lullaby" by Josh Groban feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It's a beautiful song that I thought was rather fitting (and no, I don't own any right to the song).**

_Hush now baby don't you cry,  
Rest your wings my butterfly._

Two weeks had passed since the team had gone out for dinner. They were now gathered on a sunny day. It was cool for late June, but it was comfortable as the sweet smell of freshly cut grass as it permeated the air on the gentle breeze.

The gathering was small; only the team assembled around the tiny gravesite as the priest began reading Psalm 23 from the Bible, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death; I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

As he finished reading the beautiful passage he gently shut his Bible and walked over to Spencer and JJ, laying a hand on Spencer's shoulder before kneeling in front of JJ's wheelchair, "I'm very sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. May the peace of God be with you both."

"Thank you Father," JJ whispered while looking at her clenched hands, gripping the white rose in her lap as she blinked rapidly to prevent her tears from falling. The priest rose to his feet and nodded at the team before leaving.

_Peace will come to you in time,  
And I will sing this lullaby._

There was a beat of silence before Spencer breaking voice spoke up, "Samuel Rutherford once said 'Ye have lost a child--nay, she is not lost to you, who is found to Christ; she is not sent away, but only sent before; like unto a star, which going out of our sight, doth not die and vanish, but shineth in another hemisphere.' I pray that once day I'll be able to go to Heaven and hold you Kayla. I'll see you soon, my love."

_Know though I must leave, my child,  
That I would stay here by your side._

JJ finally lifted her head and studied the tiny casket and its smooth, dark wood, adorned with a beautiful arrangement of white roses _the colour of purity_ she thought absently to herself. JJ opened her mouth, but no words came out. She cleared her throat quietly and began again, "I waited so long to find the right man; instead I found a soul mate. I waited even longer for a child, to feel the growing anticipation, to see your first ultrasound, to hear your heartbeat," Her voice broke, "To feel the first flutter as you moved from within me. I waited, watched and felt as my belly grew and your movements became more pronounced and strong. You loved the nighttime like your Dad because you would dance and keep me up with you, as if you wanted to share it with me and didn't want me to miss anything. For my whole life, all I ever wanted was you, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Fate can be cruel, but you can believe that I will be waiting, like your father, until I can hold you again. I miss you everyday and I always will, but at least now I know you won't be tainted by this world. I know that you will never be touched by violence and that comforts me." JJ took a moment to calm herself before continuing, "But it also breaks my heart because I'll never be able to see you take your first steps or your first smile, hear your first laugh or your first word. I won't be there to hold you when a boy breaks your heart for the first time. I won't be able to see you get married or have children of your own. However, I believe that you are safe and happy and that's more than any parent could ever hope for their child to have. I love you Kayla."__

And if you wake before I'm gone  
Remember this sweet lullaby 

JJ managed to maneuver her wheelchair to the casket where she kissed the white rose in her lap and placed it on the lid of the casket. She gently put her hand on the sun warmed surface before lovingly kissing the lid of the casket and whispering softly to her daughter.

Spencer followed suit by kissing his rose and placing it across JJ's before standing beside his wife and tenderly kissing her hand.

_  
And all love through darkness,  
Don't you ever stop believing._

Gideon stepped forward and placed his white rose beside Spencer and JJ's. He kissed his hand before placing it on the casket. He walked to the Reid's and shook his head, "This shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry." He turned and walked across the peaceful cemetery to wait beside the car.__

With love forlorn,  
With love you'll find your way.

Hotch was the next one to place his rose on the casket; he stood for a long moment just starting at it before blinking slowly and moving to the Reid's, "This was my fault. I should have listened to you Spencer. You were right and I would give my life in a heartbeat to trade places with Kayla."

Something in his haunted stare made JJ reach up and pull him down into a hug, "Hotch I want you to listen very carefully to me," she whispered into his ear, "This was _not _your fault. You need to believe that neither Spencer nor I blame you for this, not one bit. I promise you that. Please stop blaming yourself." She held on for a minute more before holding him at arm's length and letting him study her eyes where no blame or accusation rested.

JJ's words meant a lot to him, but it was her eyes that convinced Hotch the truth of her words. They really didn't blame him for the death of their daughter, "Thank you," he whispered before joining Gideon.

_  
My love._

Emily moved forward and placed her rose amongst the others before approaching the Reid's, "I—I," she stuttered as tears clogged her throat, "I'm s-so—"

"Thank you Emily," Spencer supplemented.

She nodded before retreating to the car.__

The world has turned the day to dark,  
I leave this night with heavy heart.

Spencer closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. He was trying to be strong for JJ, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold himself together. When he opened his eyes Penelope and Derek were stand before him.

Penelope's eyes were bloodshot from a lack of sleep and crying almost nonstop throughout the day. She let go of Morgan's hand and hugged Spencer before repeating the process with JJ, "If there's anything I can do, please let me know. I'm only a phone call away."

The Reid's nodded and she turned back to Morgan, "Do you want me to wait for you at the car?" Derek only nodded so she returned to the car.

A long moment of silence passed before Derek's face finally rose from the ground and he didn't bother to hide his tears or the grief playing over his face and clouding his eyes; he didn't feel strong or tough, not today. Today he felt his best friends suffering added to his own and the force of it nearly crushed him, "I wish there was something to say that would make the two of you hurt less, but I know that right now words don't mean much. That they won't stop the two of your from hurting. I want you to know that I'm here," he hugged Spencer fiercely for a long time before backing away to allow the younger man to breathe again. He knelt in front of JJ, "JJ…I just…" he tried as tears clouded his vision and choked his throat. A sob burst from his lips as tears rained down his cheeks; he shook his head as words failed him and looked up to the sky, searching for some kind of reason, something to help him justify this loss of life and regain control over himself. Derek let his grief overwhelm him as JJ hugged him close and Spencer put a shaking hand on his shoulder.

After a little while he leaned back on his haunches and roughly rubbed his hands over his face. He opened his mouth, "Don't you dare apologize Derek Morgan," JJ interrupted. "Everyone is allowed to grieve in their own time. It just hits different people at different times."

He nodded, "The two of you don't deserve this. Neither did Kayla, but you are both showing grace and understanding where I can't find any. Your unshakable faith and love for each other is something I want to work towards having with Penelope. I'll be keeping all of you in my thoughts. My Mom also wanted me to pass along her condolences and to tell you that she's put all three of your names down so her whole church is praying for you guys."

"Please tell her thank you and that it means a lot to us," Spencer said hoarsely.

"I will."

"Thank you Derek."

He shook his head again. As he rose he kissed JJ on the cheek. "Do you want us to wait for you?" Morgan asked as he nodded towards the rest of the team waiting under a large oak tree by their cars.

Spencer looked at JJ, "Sure. We'll be over in a minute."

Derek took one last glance around him, memorizing everything. He walked over and kissed his hand before placing it on the casket and returning to his second family.

_When I return to dry your eyes,  
I will sing this lullaby._

Spencer took a shuddering breath, "Are you sure you want to go for lunch with the team?"

She eyed her husband, "I am if you are."

"I could use some time out of the house."

"Me too. Besides, you look like you need to eat something. People are going to start saying I'm starving you," she gently teased, managing to muster a small smile.

Spencer lightly chuckled before looking guilty.

"Spence? It's okay to laugh. I'm sure one day it won't hurt to smile and laugh and joke. I'm sure we'll stop feeling guilty for being alive, but we just need to give it time."

"Has anyone ever told you how smart you are?"

"This coming from the genius with the eidetic memory and three PhD's? I'll take that as a huge compliment."

Silence crept back over them, "Are you ready to go JJ?"

"Give me a minute, okay?"

"Sure. I'll be waiting over there," he said, pointing to an elm tree about halfway between the gravesite and the team.

"Thanks." Spencer assembled the energy to make himself physically walk to the tree, where he kept a close eye on JJ.

After she was sure Spencer was out of earshot, she gave her wheelchair a gentle push and sighed, "Kayla, I need your help sweetheart. Your Daddy and I…we're trying really hard just to make it from one day to the next without you, but your Daddy hasn't been sleeping much. Please help him make it through this because I can't live without both of you. Take care of him." She laid her cheek against the casket just so that she could feel close to her daughter for the last time. She pushed herself away from the diminutive casket and raised her face to the sky, feeling the sun warm her face and begin to thaw the chill that seemed to have crept into her soul. "I love you and I'll see you soon kiddo."

JJ began to make her way towards the team when Spencer jogged up and began pushing her wheelchair, "You shouldn't be doing that."

She rolled her eyes at him, but reveled in the simplicity of that statement and the complexity of emotion behind it: love, friendship, protection, compassion, honesty, loyalty and so much more. JJ knew as they left the cemetery that they would both be okay because these were the emotions that brought them together and they had only grown stronger and more ingrained over time. She knew that as long as they still had these and were willing to fight for each other they would make it.

_Yes I will sing this lullaby,  
Oooooohhh._

THE END! O

**A/N: I finally finished this! cheers Thanks to absolutely every single person that reviewed this story, especially my regular reviewers for sticking with me on this. I know it was a rocky road, but I learned a great lesson from this: I'm going to write the ****entire**** story **_**before**_** I begin posting!**

**This is probably the last story I'm going to be writing for a while, but I'm also going to catch up on all of ****your**** stories. Thanks for all of the support!!**

**FeistyFeral**


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